BANG!
Rumble!
The underground cavern rumbled heavily as the Nox High Commander Malak's body shot across it and crashed through the opposing wall.
In that instant he lost his advantage, the jarring shock of the realm laws disappearing disoriented him for a second and left him open to the Prismatic Sun Holy Master's brutal attacks.
As he crawled out of the wall and saw his comrades being suppressed by the Holy Master, a deep frown formed on his face.
It was an expression of helplessness that manifested after he realized the current situation.
They'd lost so easily?
He knew it was a suicide mission from the beginning. If it was anything else, he and his comrades wouldn't have been dispatched.
Malak's story was a bit complicated. In simple terms, he'd offended someone very powerful, and his status had been reduced to nothing more than a hunting dog.
In his most rational opinion, the only one who could save him from his predicament would be a Nox Emperor, but how could he have the capabilities to contact them?
He and his team were forced into this mission and many others so they could die in battle after being used to their fullest capability, but they managed to survive until this point.
Their survival ability gave them relatively widespread acclaim, but their strength wasn't as impressive.
However, it shouldn't have ended so quickly, right?
He was appalled by the strength displayed by the duo he had the misfortune of encountering and he was even more unable to accept the rapid response of the majority of geniuses that cut off the Nox's chance for success.
Malak already knew he was going to die, but he didn't want to die meaninglessly.
If he had no other choice, he at least wanted to leave an impression of himself in the hearts of his allies and enemies before he disappeared.
With this thought in mind, Malak crawled out of the wall and stood back up, wiping the black blood from his mouth and taking his first steps back into battle.
However, a figure appeared in his path before he could make it too far.
"Hey, having fun?"
The man among the genius duo smiled at him somewhat teasingly, a frustrating expression.
Malak raised his fist to attack, not bothering with conversation.
But Damien had other plans. Today, he wasn't trying to fight any further.
"Relax. If I could offer you a way out, would you take it?"
Damien's words made Malak's eyes widen in surprise. He finally understood how they felt when he said the same words to them earlier.
Yet, he still entertained it.
Why? Even he didn't know.
"What is it you want, human?" He pressed frustratedly, glancing at the state of his allies.
It seemed the Holy Master's onslaught had slowed considerably. She didn't look like she was trying to kill, but trying to suppress instead.
Malak turned his eyes back to Damien strangely as he began to talk.
"Here's the thing…"
What Damien wanted to say was both simple and complicated at the same time.
Even he felt a bit strange as he allowed the words to flow out of his mouth.
The crux of his proposition was just as simple as it had always been. He wanted Malak and his comrades to move to the Sanctuary!
The complicated part was the reasoning behind it, as well as his stance on the Nox themselves.
Other than the universe's previous forms, what Damien saw most in Hassan's memories was the nature of the Nox.
They were…
Well, the universe's perception of them came from a point of truth.
For the most part, those in their race were belligerent and power-hungry, those who had succumbed to their vices and allowed those vices to consume them and drive their actions.
The Nox thrived on destruction and death. The force of their natural racial mana was just as corrupted, as if they were fated for evil since birth.
However, just like all races, the Nox weren't a people who could be painted in black and white.
Hassan experienced the most brutal years of his life enslaved under the Nox, but he also met many good people, people who pitied him and gave him the strength to live another day.
Perhaps that strength was wasted in his circumstances, but the thought behind their actions was what mattered.
Even Nox beings who worked common custodial jobs and whatnot on their starships and war vehicles had to be 4th class since those under this level were frenzied and unintelligent.
In Damien's expectation, these people would use prisoners as torture subjects to relieve stress and utilize a bit of their neglected power.
This wasn't an uncommon approach, but there were a select few among those staffers who offered the prisoners food, occasionally dressed their wounds, and even had healthy conversations without them, ignoring the boundaries that separated them.
Since when was it common for a Nox to show kindness?
Unless it was a being like Zara who was a Nox being but wasn't raised as a Nox being, Damien couldn't picture it.
In fact, while Damien didn't know it, there was another Nox being who exhibited qualities similar to what he'd just seen.
That man was named Thaddeus Church, and though he had the mercilessness and ruthlessness of a Nox being instilled in him, he also had a natural curiosity that led him to accompany his Plant Race companion, Aaliyah, on an expedition across the universe.
Thaddeus' personality had gone through severe changes in the period of time he'd spent with that woman. He was living proof that the Nox couldn't be defined so one-dimensionally.
And while Damien had yet to meet him, he had personally witnessed too many cases in Hassan's memories to allow his prejudice to guide his actions.
"…so come with me. I can guarantee you absolute protection for at least a year or two. The only condition is that you work for me after that period ends."
Damien finally finished his words and stepped back.
"I have some stuff to talk to the Holy Master about, so I'll leave you to your thoughts. If you agree, just stay here until I come back. If you don't, leave on your own. I won't stop you, nor will she."
Damien walked over to the other side of the cave, attracting the Holy Master's attention.
As she went over to him, Malak's comrades were freed from her barrage and given time to rest, time which they used to regroup with him.
Malak watched this take place incredulously.
Did Damien forget that he and the Holy Master were still not as strong as their group? At most, they would be evenly matched.
However, Malak soon understood where Damien's confidence came from.
'Right, the control center has been destroyed.'
Without the realm laws in place, there was nothing maintaining the strength and age barriers that the universe's forces abided by until this point.
Any second now, experts would flood into the realm, and even Malak would become a tiny existence surrounded by Supremes and Demigods who could easily slap him to death.
As he passed some black pills to his companions and sat down with them to heal, he genuinely considered Damien's proposal.
Working for a human…
Well, it would certainly be a new experience.
Whether or not it was worth the risk…?
Malak sighed.
'This is quite the troublesome decision.'
