Day: 0
Kill Count: 10,677,831
A man sat alone in a humble shack. It was made of packed dirt and stone, but it still had more than enough space and quality to house someone.
Besides, in the current situation, something like a true home would only be destroyed within the day.
This place was made for the sole purpose of giving him a place to sit away from the silence, a place he could claim within this dark continent.
Skreeee!
Skreeeeee!
Skreeeeeeee!
Their screeches and screams didn't stop, but he put soundproofing magic on the shack to drown them out.
It didn't work well, but it worked well enough.
Less than one day passed.
In just a few hours, over ten million Lesser Nox fell to his hand.
Calling them limitless was not an overstatement.
They didn't come constantly, but when they did choose to charge, they came in such large swarms that they became inseparable from the darkness of the ground like a rolling tide.
Even if there was a whole squadron here, even if an entire military fortress was present, they likely wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of this place for too long.
It had been less than one day.
Time didn't hasten with the constant battle, it just got slower and slower. Every single second felt like an eternity,
It was hard to accept how little time he'd actually spent here.
Damien's face did not change.
His emotions were locked away properly in the Mind Prison, including any and all emotions he had towards those he cared for.
Anything positive, anything that could remind him of the real world, was kept tucked away.
He didn't want those positive emotions to be corroded by the atmosphere of this place.
When he left, he couldn't act like someone who'd spent 5 years here.
SKREEEEEE!
SKREEEEEEEE!
SKREEEEEEEEEE!
Their screams were getting louder.
It must've been time for another wave.
10 million?
No, that was just a welcome gift.
The current number had to be over ten times that, if not even greater.
No thoughts entered or left Damien's mind.
He simply stood up and left his hut.
He raised himself into the air and pushed his arm out.
Void Mana coalesced into spatial force and razed No Return Pass down to nothingness again.
Over a million Nox beings died in that instant.
Yet, were there ninety-nine millions left? No, there were 99,000,000 left in this wave.
The next one would be coming soon.
No Return Pass…just how was it held so long?
Damien underestimated this place.
He thought limitless was an overstatement.
But if it was actually like this, there was no way for a common squadron to deal with it no matter what kind of strength they had.
It was a conspiracy.
Though, not one that was important at the moment.
Another batch of traitors; they'd already established themselves as such when they abandoned their posts.
Was this new realization supposed to be surprising?
It didn't matter.
With Damien's practically infinite mana capacity, they wouldn't be able to get past him.
Not as long as they only sent Lesser Nox.
The first day finally came and went.
Time came and went.
Yet, the dreariness of No Return Pass never changed.
***
Day: 7
Kill Count: 1,232,400,662
Had it been a week?
Time didn't stay constant here. Sometimes, when enemies piled up too much, it became hard to tell how long it took to fight them all.
At the same time, there were many lulls. As if they were taunting Damien or maybe testing his strength, there were several hours every once in a while when no Nox tried to make their way up the pass.
These times were excruciating. Without battle to numb the silence, it could only be considered psychological torture.
Luckily, Damien was fast to seal his emotions.
His rational mind filled the silence in a variety of ways.
He trained, meditated, and created countless theorems and theories for both his power and the overall situation.
He had yet to enter the Sanctuary.
He wasn't used to this state yet. Until he was accustomed to it, he wouldn't be able to switch to positivity without flaws.
If there were flaws, others would notice.
Their feelings were something Damien cared heavily about, but he also couldn't control their actions.
If he wanted things to progress properly, he had to make sure they didn't move in ways that harmed his plans or their identities.
There wasn't much to do, but that also meant Damien gained a lot of much-needed time for training.
He became complete after digesting the Blessing of Foundation, but he still needed to acclimate to the new state of his body which allowed him to fight hundreds of millions of Nox every day without tiring.
In addition, he gained a sea of World Force through his travels in recent times. It was beginning to take a shape that was uncannily similar to Universal Law.
He needed to gain total control over this new power and connect it with his Universal Law comprehension for the best results.
Therefore, he wasn't bored.
Loneliness was only a problem if he allowed it to be.
This was worse than the First Dungeon. At least that place had a sense of familiarity and change.
This place was just bleak.
More enemies came and Damien returned to killing.
The enemies fell and Damien devoured everything they left for him before returning to his hut.
His memories were becoming muddled, yet they also felt incredibly clear.
He learned how to separate those he gained from those he owned, and slowly, he started piecing together the puzzle formed by the Nox memories in his mind.
'Pathetic creatures.'
That was all they were.
Especially these that lacked any sentience of their own.
When would the stronger ones come?
They were the ones Damien really needed to devour.
Fortunately, his ask was granted at some point.
He didn't know how long it had been, but around 3 months passed in the outside world.
It was the 95th day.
His kill count was around 20,000,000,000.
It didn't even feel like killing anymore. He was just splashing ink.
That was when he came.
A man who proclaimed himself Godrick, a servant of the Inhuman Emperor.
According to him, this was a challenge. It was a challenge for the man who felled the Saint King.
However, that man died in 5 moves.
He was just a minor character.
But, he did give Damien an idea.
"The man who felled the Saint King" was quite the title in front of the Nox.
If he could broadcast it, wouldn't the stronger ones come on their own?
That's when he started planning.
It would take at least a year for his plan to succeed, but it was worth it in the end.
He had 5 of those to kill here anyway.
Damien's activities were monotonous. He was like a machine that existed for the only purpose of fulfilling his duty.
Such a machine was better considered a monster.
A monster whose reputation reached the ears of many beyond the bounds of the universe with the passing of time.
A year…
Perhaps it wouldn't take that long at all.
