Day: 364
Kill Count: ~85,000,000,000
Sura, the Adapting Demon.
Kizma, the Dragon Dweller.
Ishamael, the Waverider.
It had almost been a year.
In that year, the number of Lesser Nox killed became so unreasonable that Damien stopped bothering with it and just approximated.
His words of challenge spread through the Abyss in the time after it happened and many Higher Nox also began challenging him.
Those three were the ones that stood out.
The count of slaughtered Higher Nox was around 10,000 at this point, which wasn't much, but was still considerable.
Especially when only three of them really stood out.
These three were unfamiliar to Damien, but it wasn't the same for Grand Heavens Boundary.
These few were a portion of the Nox geniuses who made their names famous by usurping positions on the Dimensional Leaderboard as outsiders.
But…it was too late for something like a spot on the Dimensional Leaderboard to still be considered a worthy position.
The difference was just a few moves, a few seconds.
If most of the Higher Nox that challenged Damien died in under five moves, these three were able to last twenty, which was why Damien still remembered their names and titles.
Other than that, everything else became a blur.
It was hard to imagine that a year had passed.
Day 364 didn't feel any different from day 1. The only difference was Damien's mentality.
After getting used to this place, thoughts of loneliness or doubt were erased from his mind. He became a true machine made for the exclusive purpose of slaughtering Nox.
In the process, his rank increased tremendously as well.
In one year, Damien managed to reach the 5th revolution.
The reasoning was simple.
Not only was he doing something unreasonable himself by guarding No Return Pass alone and successfully, but his people were also making huge achievements.
The creation of the Judgement Order was in large part because of his influence, so whenever their name spread, his did as well.
This was a sort of passive Legend building, but it didn't have nearly as much of an effect as his own actions, it was just the cherry on top.
But it was fun to see.
He got to see a glimpse of what they were up to, and he was assured of their safety, which allowed him to act without worry.
However, he still hadn't met them yet.
He never entered the Sanctuary himself, and the girls didn't do it either.
However, Tian Yang and a few others used it religiously as a hiding place and more.
Theavel's army, the self-proclaimed Void Army whose name Damien refused to acknowledge, was being put to use as much as they could without garnering suspicion.
Tian Yang, Tang Lingzi, and the rest were guarding the Mountain Range of Insanity bordering the Beast Domain. Under their leadership and the large personal force they possessed, they were able to absolutely secure this area.
Theavel's Army was naturally that very personal force, and whenever they moved, they didn't hesitate to spread their allegiance.
Damien Void.
Despite being confined in hell, his influence refused to leave the universe.
Damien was a bit concerned about what Immortal Blood Asura would do, but he threw those worries away.
The traitorous Demigod was too busy being a traitorous bitch to target his people.
He had to move extremely carefully now that war had broken out in totality. If his contact with the other side was even assumed because of his actions, he'd be done for.
That was one of the reasons why the Judgement Order was able to function without hindrance, and it was the same for the Sanctuarians.
"Hm?"
Damien flicked his finger, casually erasing millions of Lesser Nox from existence with a wave of Void Mana as his head tilted curiously.
The Sanctuary was suddenly home to 4,000 new World Cores that were slowly rebuilding their surfaces.
"What happened to you guys?" He asked inwardly, directing his words at the World Core Fusion Reactor.
The voice that responded was Reva's.
[Master, these children are terrified. I will explain.]
"Oh? You've become quite different in the time since we met, haven't you?"
[This is only natural. I am bathed in World Force and Universal Law every day. I am slowly regaining my mother's identity.]
"I see. Anyway, continue with what you were saying."
[Yes, Master. I will directly transmit the necessary memories.]
Reva had been quiet since Damien bound her, but it seemed she was just reconnecting to her identity as a universe fragment.
After all, when they first met, she was so broken she could hardly express her intentions, merely wandering through existence.
Now, she was starting to show traits similar to a World Core. In a sense, she could be considered an older sibling of World Cores as a whole.
She became the main consciousness of the World Core Fusion Reactor on her own and managed their processes for Damien, most of the time not bothering him at all.
He was unaware of her interference for a while, but since she was only doing good things for him, he left her be and didn't force her to explain herself.
His actions were definitely right, since it was only recently that Reva reached a point where she could express herself.
Nevertheless, the memories in question entered Damien's mind in waves, allowing him to process them.
For the most part, they all showed similar scenes.
With no prior warning, every being in the world died.
At the same time, in the same way, with no interaction whatsoever.
They all just fell lifeless to the ground.
In the next scene, darkness prevailed.
A massive environment was vaguely present in the distance below the scene, but it couldn't be made out yet.
There were 10,000 worlds here, all devoid of life.
A being appeared in their midst.
He was cloaked in darkness, with only a pair of eerily soulless eyes peering through the veil.
He raided his hand once, and—
RUMBLE!
The worlds deconstructed.
Every level of their physical existence was torn away until their surfaces were just rubble in the void, which was soon consumed by that very entity.
The 10,000 rogue World Cores were in survival mode. They searched for any opportunity to guarantee their survival.
But there was no such thing.
One by one, they were corrupted by the great power of a Demigod and sent to an unknown location.
Except for these 4,000.
They who chose to shelter themselves under Damien's umbrella early were the only ones able to escape this situation.
They teleported to the Sanctuary automatically through its mechanisms, and that was the end of it.
Damien wasn't able to see what happened to the majority that couldn't escape.
"That must be the Soul Emperor," Damien said casually.
He'd seen the Saint and Inhuman Emperors with his own eyes, while he learned the Karmic Emperor's appearance through the memories he'd devoured from the thousands of Higher Nox that came looking for him.
That only left one option.
The most elusive Nox Emperor, he who never showed his form, the Soul Emperor.
"It's a shame they targeted the Giants."
Damien likes Giants a lot. They were honest and righteous without fail. It was a racial trait that couldn't be any other way.
In another sense, they were the most secure race in the universe.
Their mere existence gave denizens a sense of surety about their safety, which obviously wasn't something the Nox could allow.
So they targeted the Giants first, with a plan of total eradication.
"If I was the enemy, I would have also made this choice. The only surprise is that it wasn't discovered by Heaven's Army before it happened. Now…"
Now, there was a simple question that needed answering.
What was the Soul Emperor planning to do with those newly corrupted World Cores?
