"Huu…"
A breath swept through the air.
WHOOOOOOSH!
Its force spread disaster upon the land.
The winds that whipped through the air were enough to slaughter armies and destroy continents, but they originated from but a single breath.
"I'm finally here…"
Damien opened his eyes.
The mana in his body was stable like a calm ocean, with gait far surpassing such a water body.
"The 9th revolution…"
He clenched his fist.
"...I'm finally a Supreme."
He stopped counting time a while ago. Such thoughts only inhibited his practice.
However, it should've been several months into the 5th year by now.
"It's almost over, huh…"
His long imprisonment had developed into the only thing he knew in a short period. It was hard for him to imagine life returning to normalcy, but that time wasn't far away.
'Putting that aside, even after reaching this level, it doesn't feel like much has changed.'
Damien just became a Supreme, but he had fighting power on par with them ever since he became a High Commander.
Even he didn't know his current level, but he was certain nobody in the universe was his opponent.
"...except for those guys, of course."
He was confident in himself, but he was very clear of the difference between a lower existence and a Divinity. It was impossible for him to touch them until he reached their league.
'Plus…'
He clenched his fist with a frown.
'How long is it going to take?'
Despite being absorbed in the task for several years at this point, he still hadn't found a way to fuse his Laws.
It was just too incomprehensible.
He knew the end goal he was trying to reach, but this wasn't a process where that was enough.
After all, just what would the fusion between Elemental Law and Samsara create?
He couldn't rationalize that force.
No, that force wasn't something to be rationalized.
The fundamental laws of the universe were known as such because they were complete in their individual forms and enhanced in conjunction.
They were separately created through a series of events that followed the presence of their superiors, however, they all stemmed from their origin concept individually.
'This is the problem with doing things that have never been done before. Even when I was doing the "impossible" previously, it was still within the realm of possibility.'
In simple terms, regardless of how much he broke the law, he still did so within the appropriate margins.
Right now, he was trying to completely escape the bounds of the universe with his own power.
'It's a sense of perspective I didn't have before. The Void is able to accomplish things like this so effortlessly that I forgot how insane my actions actually are.'
It wasn't like he gave up in the face of inevitability, but feeling it was another thing entirely.
'Since this path was set out for me, there has to be a solution. I need to escape the bounds of my own perception before I can even think about challenging reality itself.'
The concept didn't exist, so he had to create it. In essence, it was simple.
He just couldn't imagine it.
Reality was called as such for a reason. Everything that existed, everything that was real, was reality.
Whether it be truth or deceit, it was a concept that could be traced back to something real. Even the concept of nothingness itself was a reflection of reality as it was understood, so to an extent, it could be perceived.
'It would be so much easier if I could just comprehend Creation.'
The last of the existent forces he needed to learn, Creation and Destruction, were unavailable to lower existences.
Unless one was born with a natural affinity to the major concepts, it was impossible to perceive them.
The reason was simple.
Creation and Destruction in their fundamental forms were already Divine. They were acts of miracle that only Divinities had the qualifications to understand.
There were occasions in the long rivers of history where people were born with affinities towards them, but they could be counted on one hand.
"Haa…"
Damien sighed to himself.
"For now, it's better to stop pursuing this. I know where I need to go, but until I have a way to get there, I'm just banging my head against a wall."
It was a bit late to make this conclusion, but what could he do? He was too headstrong to give up easily, even if it was only a temporary retreat.
'Hmm…'
He sent his senses into his body.
'I only have half a year left here. I wonder how I should spend it?'
He could easily focus on forging or spirit liquor, but he wasn't in the mood to waste time right now.
'Fighting has become boring too.'
This state, where he was more powerful than his peers but not powerful enough to face his seniors, was something he was very familiar with.
Nowadays, seeing a Supreme come to challenge him wasn't as rare as it used to be, but his clones could take care of them without a problem.
As long as a few of them worked together, there wasn't a single Nox who could challenge him.
His current kill count was close to exceeding a trillion.
There was no way he wouldn't be bored of it by now.
However, this time, an absolute wall separated him from the ones he actually wanted to fight.
As he pondered on it, thinking of various ways to make proper use of his remaining time in isolation, he came to a blank.
'There's really nothing for me to do.'
The only step he could take was one he couldn't take.
He finally faced the impossibility that plagued all other practitioners.
"Haa…"
He sighed again.
He was starting to feel desolate.
Even though the Mind Prison shielded his ego, he could feel the effects of hopelessness creeping into his mind.
'This is a trial I have to overcome.'
He knew this, but he hated it.
He hated this feeling more than anything else.
As if he couldn't do anything. As if he was useless.
It was easy to use the Void.
He could default to it again and use it as a crutch to get himself out of this situation, but where would that take him?
'My goal is to become the master of the Void, not its slave.'
He had to do it alone.
He had to.
So…
"Fuck it."
Someone once said rest was just as important to a practitioner as training. Without a rested mind and body, the chances of failure became much higher, and failure at the critical moment could lead to a fatal incident.
6 months.
For Damien who moved relentlessly to learn and improve even when he was "resting," taking true rest for this long felt like a pipe dream.
But perhaps even that was training.
Training to build the patience to chase this impossible path, patience that would allow him to sit in meditation for thousands of years if he really desired it.
If he viewed it like that, his spirit flared.
He always welcomed a challenge, regardless of whether or not its form was strange.
'I wonder how they're doing on the other side…'
His desire to visit the Sanctuary was greater than ever.
'But I'll hold off for now. If I rush these things, what's the point of talking about patience?'
He was in a position where knowing about the situation wouldn't do him any good. He couldn't even affect it.
'Since Elvira is leading them, I can be confident they're moving smarter than they ever would if I took that position.'
He laid down on the cold ground of No Return Pass.
Alone and desolate.
That's how he'd spend the next few months.
