What Damien expected didn't happen. He didn't lose his head at the hand of Marty, the vice-leader of the rebels. Instead of that, a wizened voice belonging to a man rang in his ears.
"Do you desire power?"
"Who doesn't?"
Damien's eyes snapped open, and he looked around in search of the source of the voice, only to become startled as he found himself in an unimaginable place.
It was void of light, blacker than darkness, with no end in sight.
That was just its most basic description.
It didn't have corners, and it endlessly stretched forward in all directions.
The weird thing was that Damien could feel it growing at an incalculable rate.
That terrified him.
'Where am I?' Damien wondered.
"You are in a place called the Endless. It is a space that exists between realms. Only the truly strong can find it. For example, Lords of the West, Realm Lords, Demi-Gods, Gods, and True Beings can access it. As for the others, it will be a surprise if they know about it."
"You can read my thoughts?" Damien's eyebrows raised.
Not a single ray of light was present in the Endless, but he was able to see his surroundings clearly.
There was a huge wall in front of him, giving off the feeling of being indestructible. It was like glass, transparent as he could see through it.
It separated Damien from the human-like figure standing behind it.
Damien focused his eyes on the humanoid figure, realizing it was an old man with a kind face.
He had warm brown eyes and thick, curly hair like seaweed. He was adorned in shiny armor and wore a white cap with two long, pointed points on the front. He had a harmless smile on his face that made him look like someone who would never dream of hurting an insect or a bug. Clouds twisted and churned around him, adding to his charms. He carried himself with grace. But there was something evil about him. He was trying hard to hide it, but it didn't escape Damien's notice.
"Reading someone's mind is a piece of cake for me." The old man said to Damien.
"Who are you, and why did you pull me into this place?" Damien asked.
"Who am I? That's not really important." The old man answered with a smile. "What's important is that you are in danger of being killed, and I can give you what you need."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I have only pulled your consciousness in this place. Your mortal body is still in the magical rose garden, surrounded by the Allied Forces of Evil. The Vice-Leader of the rebels is infinitely close to killing you. But I can give you the power to survive against him.
"No. When you accept my blessing, you will become strong enough to kill him and avenge your people!
"Time passes differently in the Endless compared to the Far West Major World. You have about a minute to come to a decision. Do you want it?"
"You can't get anything for free in this world. Everything comes with a price." A sharp glint flashed in Damien's eyes as he stared at the old man sharply. He had a kind face. But that doesn't necessarily mean that he was anything good. He might be a devil in disguise. "What's the catch?"
"I am a Righteous God that abhors evil. If you accept my blessing and become my apostle, you will have to fight for justice, and you will be punished for siding with evil." The old man clasped his hands behind his back and raised his head. Brilliant rays of light excluded from him, and ten thousand lotuses bloomed around him. He really looked like a Righteous Deity. "But you will be rewarded for doing good deeds and punishing evil."
"That's all?" Damien questioned.
The old man nodded.
Damien breathed in deeply and spoke.
"I want it."
"You made the right choice." The old man's hand penetrated the wall separating them and stretched towards Damien. "Take my hand so that I can transfer my powers to you."
"Okay." Unsuspecting of the old man, Damien raised his hand to grab it.
"Almost a decade of scheming will finally bear me fruit today."
The old man felt endlessly happy, seeing that their hands were about to touch.
However, before Damien's fingers could touch the milky white hand of the old man, a cold and manly voice echoed throughout the Endless.
"How dare you try to fool my grandson?!"
The entire space trembled and screamed as a golden beam fell from above and bombarded the old man's hand, scorching it black and revealing its true face.
It was like the devil's claw, having three fingers, each of which was shaped like a thin knife longer than a child's arm.
"Kuaaggh!"
The old man screamed like a banshee as his hand, touched by the light of the sky, burned away, turning into dust.
"How could you be here?"
The old man's expression contorted when he saw a man with golden wavy hair flying above Damien.
He had a youthful scholarly face and refined facial features. His lips were red, and his teeth were pearly white. His hair reached his waist, and his eyebrows were like sharp swords. The depth of his eyes couldn't be discerned, and they occasionally twinkled in a profound light.
He was the Water Celestial!
"Guess?" The Water Celestial laughed and shot down the sky.
The old man realized what he was up to, and he immediately made a move. The hand that was burned away regenerated just as fast, and the metallic fingers stretched toward Damien like tentacles.
By now, he was certain that the old man was a devil in human skin.
He jumped away, but they chased after him. They were extremely fast compared to him. The distance between them shorted in an instant. He could do nothing as they wrapped around him and picked him up. He was pulled towards the old man.
"Save me!"
"In the presence of this God, any attempt to harm him is useless!" The Water Celestial laughed, and boundless golden energy spewed out of his mouth and burst out of his body. "Chaos, you are better off giving up if you don't want to suffer any more losses."
He was like a small Sun as the light bursting out of him lit up the endless expanse of space and made it tremble.
Damien had to admit that at this moment, although he was confused and terrified, he was impressed to see the man who looked 90% similar to him transforming into a small Sun!
The Endless, blacker than darkness, was brightened up as the mighty divine power of the Water Celestial rushed downward in the shape of rays of light.
They combined into one mighty sword that gave off a surreal feeling of having the strength to chop the moon into two pieces.
Whoosh!
It chopped downward with an indomitable momentum. Nothing could stop it. And it was so fast that nothing could escape it.
The sword was made from the Water Celestial's divine power and infused with his Sword Force. It had a consciousness of its own and also possessed special abilities.
Its first special property was to emit divine radiance that could purify evil. Its second special property was to eradicate whatever it cuts. It was comparable to a legendary weapon. Maybe only rank-1 or special-grade runic items could be its match.
It had its eyes set on the Chaos, and that made him feel terrified.
After all, Chaos had no way to fight against it, and he also lacked the means to escape it.
"This won't end here." Chaos said, "You hear me?!"
The radiance of the sword enveloped the indignant Chaos's hand, which was holding Damien captive. It shattered like glass when it came under the radiance of the sword of the sky. The next second, the sword went through it, and Chaos's hand disappeared without a trace, leaving behind not a single fragment.
"I won't let my years of hard work go to waste! Everything I have done till now will not go down the drain! I am coming from him! Stop me if you can!" Chaos roared and stepped out of the Endless.
"I would have liked it if there was no boundary wall between us."
The transparent wall wasn't something that could be easily bypassed. It was the wall between the realms. A truly strong being can force a part of his body to go through it. But if they tried to force their entire body through, there was no telling what would happen. Maybe they would shatter into pieces or explode like a balloon.
The Water Celestial floated downward gracefully.
Damien, who he had helped set free from the old man's grasp, was falling down the nothingness. He raised his hand, and Damien flew towards him. He carried him like a baby and asked, "Are you alright?" as he gently caressed his face and brushed his messy hair behind his ears.
Damien nodded, "Thank you for saving me."
He was thankful to this person because he saved him from falling into Chaos's trap.
But he was also confused as he called him his grandson, and he looked very similar to himself.
"Are you my grandpa?"
The Water Celestial heard the question of the little boy in his hand and, for a second, didn't know how to answer.
