It was too familiar. As the fight continued, the familiarity only grew.
Every move Damien made, he'd seen it before.
He'd experienced it with his body.
Roughly 500 years. That was his current age.
He almost reached the limit of what the Dimensional Leaderboard accepted.
In that time, he'd experienced far too much.
His life started simply.
Bai Yumo was born into a hidden community on Al'Katra filled with Nox who went against their base instincts.
They understood the pleasures of peace, and decided to pursue that route.
Hidden within the folds of space, they were able to survive several hundred years maintaining their peace.
Or at least, they tried.
The adults would occasionally leave the secret village and come back with loads of exotic meats and products, telling stories of mystical places the rest had never seen.
It wasn't until he got older that Bai Yumo realized they were acting as dogs in order to keep the peace of their families secure.
Nevertheless, for the children who were able to experience happiness from the moment they gained sentience, it was practically heaven.
Until that day.
That day, a man appeared in the skies.
He only raised his arm once, yet the entire village was eradicated. The population was slaughtered and turned into burnt husks, leaving six behind.
These six were "chosen." Since they survived, they had enough potential and destiny for him to look at them.
They were nurtured. No, nurtured was the wrong word.
They were raised in such a way that their instincts were killed, their egos were killed, and they became puppets who would reverently follow that man's will.
And in time, even they themselves were killed.
By the very children they entered this place with.
Bai Yumo was one of only two survivors of that childhood. He personally murdered three of his friends with his own hands.
From that moment on, he became the Saint Emperor's "son."
He was given specialized training that tortured him into the son the Saint Emperor wished to show to the world.
He was used as a pawn to conquer the Nox and bring a majority of their race to the Saint Emperor's side, and when the time came, he was used for the purpose he'd been told since young.
To fight the genius known as Damien Void.
Bai Yumo's life was filled with brutality that turned a boy who was blessed with peace to a man consumed by hatred.
The ego the Saint Emperor tried so hard to kill never died, but instead buried itself deep in the recesses of his mind in wait of the day he could strike.
The man who massacred his entire family, that man had to die.
Sentience wasn't the only thing the Nox gained upon reaching 4th class.
There was something else, a shackle that released and provided one glimpses of a forbidden truth.
When Bai Yumo realized that truth, rather than pride, he only felt disgusted by his race.
He disdained his own origin.
To others, he wanted to reach the Saint Emperor to live up to his expectations.
But not just the Saint Emperor, the entire Nox Race was something he wanted to tear down and rebuild from the ground up.
That was his grand ambition, the one Damien saw while they fought, and the reason he was still alive now.
'That mana…'
He was drowned in introspection after a scene like that. He had to rationalize the thoughts of his supposed enemy, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.
'It was the same.'
The mana Damien used to defeat him was the same mana that almost killed him when he summoned it. He finally realized this.
And if it was that mana, he could understand far more.
It was far more diluted and unable to show its full potential, but this mana resided in the Saint Emperor's hands as well.
He'd experienced its effects with his body.
'He saw.'
'Then…'
'…have I gained an unexpected ally?'
He couldn't figure it out. Even if his final goal aligned with Damien's, how could the man easily ally with someone like him?
In order to disguise his intentions, he followed the Saint Emperor's will and created a persona of absolute evil.
It wasn't just one or two genocides he'd committed.
He'd mindlessly wandered to the edge of the universe somehow. He didn't know how he arrived here so rapidly, but he was currently looking out into the Abyss from the grounds of Eien.
He turned his eyes back to Grand Heavens Boundary.
'Who are you, Damien Void?'
Whoosh!
His eyes widened as he stumbled back.
"Someone" surfaced behind him, his presence totally unnoticeable.
Goosebumps rose on Bai Yumo's skin. He could guess who this visitor was.
"Father," he said emotionlessly, turning around to face him.
"I do not have a son like you," the Saint Emperor responded coldly.
"This was not a defeat because of my own carelessness. He is stronger than me now, but I am certain I will be able to kill him the next time we meet."
Bai Yumo's eyes were cold and ruthless, completely unlike his thoughts.
The Saint Emperor looked into those eyes indifferently.
"Even you are aware of the stupidity of your words."
"I may not be able to accomplish it on my own. But if I strategize properly, I will be able to take him down."
"Strategize? Is that what I raised you to do? Your only purpose is to fight him directly, not to use petty tricks."
"However, he is my fated enemy. I must rid him from existence by any means."
"No…"
The Saint Emperor shook his head.
"Your purpose was not to defeat him, but to be defeated by him. For a smart boy like you to still be unaware of this fact, is your hatred blinding your vision?"
Bai Yumo's eyes widened.
Right, it was familiar.
Far too familiar.
The feeling of hopelessness forced into his mind by that familiarity played a large part in his eventual defeat.
"You—"
Bai Yumo's voice halted.
The Saint Emperor took a few steps forward, towering over his "son."
"Your part is finished," he said, raising his arm.
"My part?"
Bai Yumo frowned in confusion.
Alarm bells began to ring in his head.
The Saint Emperor's eyes, those eyes that looked both hollow and full of light at the same time, those eyes that were windows not to a soul, but to utter darkness…
Those eyes were currently gazing down at Bai Yumo as if he were trash on the street.
"You no longer have purpose in this story."
The Saint King's eyes widened.
'What…what is he talking about?'
There was no time for him to consider those words.
Faster than his perception could read, a figure emerged from the darkness above. A sharp blade was once again pointed at Bai Yumo's neck, but this one was not going to stop!
The blade tip pierced the Saint King's skin.
He immediately felt the mana of a Supreme, mana he could not resist.
He was no longer necessary for the story.
In other words, it was time for him to die!
His life flashed before his eyes again. He knew once again that he had no chance of living in this situation.
However…
VOOOM!
A powerful foreign mana sprung forth from Bai Yumo's body, glowing with pitch-black light.
"…!"
"…!"
The Saint Emperor and his assassin both reacted in surprise.
The foreign mana wrapped around the assassin's blade and crumbled it into nothingness.
It also wrapped around Bai Yumo, encasing him in an unbreakable cocoon.
And—
Flash!
The mana disappeared entirely.
Bai Yumo was nowhere to be seen.
The Saint Emperor's cold eyes looked into the now empty Eien.
"Damien Void…"
He couldn't stop himself from saying it.
He truly was an interesting boy.
"It seems the plot is not entirely under my control anymore."
It was information that should have infuriated him, but a wild grin decorated his face.
"Very well, then. Let us see how far you can push."
He turned around and took a step.
The Supreme left behind on Eien exploded into black ink, never to be seen again.
Silence reigned once more.
The Saint Emperor and Saint King, two beings who were always referred to in the same breath, were now openly walking paths that opposed each other.
It was impossible to say how the future would pan out.
