Returning just a few hours to the past, not long after Damien and Bai Yumo's battle ended, the atmosphere amongst the Nox was quite brutal.
The Nox weren't an extremely social race like most of those in Grand Heavens Boundary. They had their main power structure that all beings followed, but other than that, there wasn't much true organization or connection.
There were various colonies of Nox throughout the Abyss, those brought together fate or purpose. These scattered groups all came under the control of a Nox Emperor, and by association, the Nox Lords under them.
If they wished to resist, they'd either die or be forcefully controlled, so they did remain loyal to their forced allegiances, if only for self-preservation.
The Nox's independence was precisely because all of them were too similar, their base thought processes clashing because of this familiarity.
Therefore, when Bai Yumo lost, regardless of where one turned their attention, the Nox had the same reaction.
Disdain, mockery, and fury.
The first two were obvious. The battle might've held great importance for their race, but the loser was still pathetic. It was only natural to treat him like trash.
The last was more complicated.
The Nox did not have a sense of community, but they absolutely cared about face.
It was a strangely contradictory trait, where an insult to the race felt like an insult to the individual despite their nature of denying camaraderie.
If Bai Yumo returned to the Abyss in this atmosphere, he would've been torn apart not only by words but by equally vicious fists as well.
However, Bai Yumo did find his way to the Abyss eventually, though not by his own design.
'Where…is this…?' He thought, glancing around at the absolute blackness in his surroundings.
He clearly felt the connection between him and the surroundings brought about by his trait, but this was a section of the Abyss he'd never seen before.
It was a section of the Abyss…away from the Nox?
Honestly speaking, even Damien couldn't say where the Saint King was now.
The technique he used was a cheat of the Void more than anything else.
He set a "condition" that would activate the "desire" he stored within the mana in the same way a computer program functioned.
Only, unlike the precise calculations needed for a program, Damien only needed his thoughts.
"When hostility from a stronger being is sensed, transport Bai Yumo as far away from the Nox as possible."
This was the command he gave his mana, and with the slight traces of Universal Law creating a bypass for the Void to act, it was able to carry out such a fantastical task properly.
Damien's mana was the origin of everything, both known and unknown, both existent and nonexistent. The capability to act autonomously under his order was merely a rudimentary ability it held.
However, such a rudimentary ability saved Bai Yumo's life, and from the looks of it, gave him the opportunity to start a new one.
'I will not be a slave any longer.'
He made a declaration. This life, he would no longer let it go to waste.
His eyes narrowed.
It was too empty around here.
'I need to start moving properly.'
The things he'd built in secrecy for centuries, now was the time to gather them and create something big, something that could eventually help him stand at the peak he saw himself reaching.
'Damien Void, I will not forget this favor.'
It was an odd feeling to have a human be the only one in the universe who understood his mind, but that fact was negligible.
'In the end, while our goals are not the same, I hope we can find common ground upon our next meeting.'
The Saint King closed his eyes.
When they reopened, he rid himself of that mantle entirely.
"Yong An."
The name he was granted at birth, the name that symbolized his family's dear wish for him to live a life of peace and fulfillment, the name destroyed by the Saint Emperor…
This was the name that would shake existence itself in the years to come.
***
The Soul Emperor did not need to personally interfere with the gift he'd prepared for Grand Heavens Boundary.
While the projection feed the Nox could see was cut off before Damien's trial, he was still able to witness the entire ordeal through his own means.
"How silly," he said to no one in particular, merely voicing his thoughts in amusement.
While their universe was falling apart, there were still people so selfish they wished to suppress their greatest geniuses?
It was quite funny to see.
No wonder the universe was destroyed until only Grand Heavens Boundary remained. When they couldn't even defeat themselves, how could they stand against outside enemies?
Now, this reasoning was more than hypocritical considering how the Nox were even more selfish than them, but it was not an invalid thought.
After all, despite their greed and hostility towards each other, the Nox had enough unity to push the universe to this extent.
It was the peak of irony.
The Soul Emperor did not need to account for the fact that the Nox had a nearly infinite number that played an arguably larger part in the current situation.
Even if their numbers were smaller, only their strategies would change.
Because the absolute obedience of a lesser bloodline had an absolute hold on even the most rebellious Nox!
There were hardly moments when he could feel such emotions. The Saint Emperor was a strange being whose consciousness was, for lack of a better word, disconnected.
For him to feel amusement of all things…
'…perhaps it has been excited by what is to come?'
The only time he felt wild rushes of emotion was when a plan he created was executed perfectly and without fail.
Knowing such a moment was coming again, perhaps his mind was already on edge?
There was no point thinking about it.
It hardly mattered in the first place.
'Hmm…did I wait too long?'
He didn't wreak havoc soon after the fated duel ended for a single reason.
Due to the situation with Damien, if he delayed by just a little, he could create a far bigger impact.
Not only would he destroy their physical world, he would destroy their minds as well!
Besides an omen of the universe's doom, what else could such a chain of events be called?
Hours passed in Grand Heavens Boundary.
It was like an instant in the Abyss.
'The time has come.'
As if on cue, a subordinate appeared at the entrance of the space, prostrating without daring to look at the being who resided there.
"Lord, preparations are complete. The task will be accomplished within a minute."
"Hmm…"
The Soul Emperor hummed without a word, and the subordinate scurried away.
If he stayed near that place for any longer, he felt like he would die horribly!
He was correct. The Soul Emperor wasn't a madman like the Inhuman Emperor, but he viewed all life other than his own as worthless, and thus would kill others without rhyme or reason simply because he did not want them to exist anymore.
This was the kind of person targeting Grand Heavens Boundary.
The Soul Emperor's hollow eyes were wide open as a projection opened before him.
The scene only few in the universe saw became visible to him as well.
Six World Cores in six different Sectors shone with brighter than the light of genesis. The single second in which they reached the point of no return stretched into what felt like minutes to the perception of the Soul Emperor.
The moment they peaked, an array of reactions chaining through their surfaces to create a picture of twisted beauty that only one man could enjoy…
Wap!
The Soul Emperor's body shook.
Six Corrupted World Cores disappeared from the starry sky.
Everything regained silence.
The only fluctuations accompanying the event were those of the natural space patching itself and making up for their disappearance.
Those within the universe were already shocked into a stupor, so the Soul Emperor's reaction could only be imagined.
"…"
One could practically see his face turning a bloody shade of red.
"WHAT IS THIS BLASPHEMY?!?!" He roared.
His voice boomed through the space and destroyed his surroundings. If the subordinates under him hadn't taken measures to prepare for a situation just like this one beforehand, his outburst would've razed hundreds of millions of lives and immediately broken the universal restriction on Demigods.
The man who felt no connection to his emotions roared in unquenchable rage.
For the first time in the length of his existence, his machinations were ruined.
And as if this wasn't already humiliating enough…
…he soon found that he had no way of uncovering the cause!
