The first array took 12 hours to set up, but the second only took eight.
Damien was confident he could take the time down to just a few seconds once he'd done it a few times, but there was something to be done first.
Voom!
An array whirred to life on this world called Helis. It was small and not very important, but it was closest to Luxurion.
Flash!
A man arrived on the hard ground, his eyes wide in surprise.
"This…how can you do something like this?!"
Luciel voiced his astonishment without hesitation. He was the first to test the capabilities of this mechanism, and with his power, there was much he could sense.
With the currently existing technology, making a jump from Luxurion to Helis would only take a few seconds, but it was easy for Luciel to tell the difference.
Because it wasn't even a few seconds. He arrived here in less than an instant!
The only reason he realized the functions of the array was because he had his senses spread and focused before he activated it.
He just barely sensed the spatial tunnel in passing, but he could absolutely feel how stable it was.
"This time was a little weak because of the distance, but it's a good example for now, right?" Damien said with a smile, standing off to the side with an old man who was the ruler of this world.
"More than that. If we include the other thing, this is absolutely heaven-defying." Luciel responded in amazement.
"However, this isn't enough. Repeated success is necessary to shut up the dissenting voices, and distance is needed for them to accept defeat." He continued, his eyes becoming serious.
"Since you have proven your ability, there is no need to wait on others. Work as you wish, and I will take care of everything else."
Damien nodded contentedly.
"I couldn't ask for more."
As he said earlier, he had no plans to make a common teleportation array. He was going to make something that could astonish his critics and confound his enemies.
When Luciel said he'd take care of everything else, he didn't just mean he would gather those righteous forces to support his mission.
He meant he would make sure nothing could stand in Damien's way.
Whether it be by protecting his people and the Human Domain, providing resources for personal growth, or suppressing internal threats, Luciel was willing to do it if it meant Damien could implement this system properly.
He underestimated it before. He thought Damien was making large claims he couldn't back up because of his age.
Fortunately for him, this young genius wasn't such a person.
He didn't just deliver on what he promised, he did far more!
Damien's interactions with Luciel would become semi-frequent over the next two years, but for now, this was their time to separate.
Luciel had to control the backline divisions of Heaven's Army, while Damien had no more time to waste.
After receiving thanks from the elder of Helis, Damien left again.
He entered the starship he and the girls were using and began controlling it with his mana, teleporting it through space.
He had to work, so there wasn't much time he could spend with them, but they cherished the moments they did have.
Travel between worlds took less time than it did for Damien when he was binding the Human Domain, and as time passed, the speed at which he created arrays became impossible.
The third took 6 hours, the fourth took 2, the fifth took half an hour, and by the time he got to the sixth, he could finish an array in a mere ten minutes.
Damien definitely underestimated the amount of worlds he'd have to visit, but it didn't cause problems for his mission. Only his personal life suffered.
Yet, he couldn't stop. Not just for his own sake, but for the people.
Every world he visited was different. They grew in their own ways and perhaps their civilizations held similarities due to their nature, but they all had their own color that set them apart from the rest.
And each of these worlds was inhabited by hundreds of millions or even several tens of billions of denizens.
Damien was almost overwhelmed by their feelings.
Just like on Helis, he was met by the world's most respected figure each time, and in some cases, he arrived in the midst of great festivities prepared for him.
All these countless existences held him favorably in their hearts. He was the one who provided them a path to survival.
He was a hero.
It wasn't just living beings who felt this way.
In fact, quite a few worlds actively approached him with the desire to be bound. The weaker ones sent him fluctuations of desperate emotions, while the stronger ones practically fawned on him.
'It's stranger coming from World Cores since they're supposed to be emotionless, but I can't get used to it from people either.'
Damien moved and moved and moved.
Time passed fast, and by the time three months passed, Damien found himself leaving the Divine Realm for Hephaestus.
'I feel bad not visiting every world after feeling their gratefulness, but I can only do it this way. Otherwise, I won't be able to finish in 2 years.'
The strategy was simple. Damien chose the largest world within each cluster and set an array there.
He didn't consider strength since the arrays had protection mechanisms of their own, he considered size because when it came time for the common people to flee, overcrowding and chaos would be an immense problem.
In total, he visited around 30,000 worlds and bound 18,000 of them.
If he had one qualm, it was the fact that the time left for him to spend with his women was only a few days at most, but it was a consequence of the situation and couldn't be helped.
'At least we got to tour some of the more attractive worlds. Azure Rain Star is a lot prettier than I remember it being.'
Damien visited Jiao Mei at Seeking Lotus Palace and saw his cello Celestial, Leona, as well. He introduced the girls to them and accepted their help to take a trip around the world to see its sights.
It was magnificent how beautiful the atmosphere of a single world could be, how magisterial the sights and phenomena present there were.
In a universe where a single world was nothing more than a speck of dust, how could it be that every speck of dust was so wonderous?
It really made one appreciate the value of small things that were devalued by the bigger picture.
'The Divine Realm is fully connected now. The time it takes to get from Helis to Luxurion is essentially the same as the time it takes to reach the same destination from the Dawn World. The hard part comes from here out.'
Connecting the Sector to itself could only be considered a recreational benefit.
Once he connected Sectors to each other, not only benefits, but problems arose in droves.
'Well, Luciel said he'd take care of it. Let's trust him and see how useful he can be.'
This was Damien's first time visiting Hephaestus, so he was a bit excited.
As they crossed into the fiery atmosphere of the Sector, his eyes shone imperceptibly.
'The main goal is the main goal, but that's not enough. Since I'm here, I have to visit Heaven's Army.'
The great commanders who led it from their seats high in the sky, he wanted to meet them.
He needed to judge if they were worthy of holding their posts.
