"So this is it…"
Damien's voice was silenced by the Abyss, but it didn't matter.
Because with the passing of 4 months, he was finally here.
"...Al'Katra."
He couldn't help but marvel at it.
The world itself could barely even be called a world.
Yes, it shared a shape with regular worlds, as did it function similarly with a loose atmosphere encasing it and whatnot.
However, it was billions of kilometers wide, an unreasonable size.
It was so massive that Damien couldn't even see its curve on the horizon. As he looked at it from so close, it was like a massive wall that expanded in all directions as far as the eye could see.
Even when he was approaching it maintained this appearance.
It was actually insane.
'Well, now that I'm here, what's the point in delaying?'
In the past 4 months, Damien had already made several plans on how to move once he was on the surface, so he didn't need to sit here and ponder about anything.
In that time, he'd also taken several measures to hide his identity.
He took Abyss Mana into his body and combined it with the Void to make his breath smell like a Nox, and even if he used his mana, nobody would be able to distinguish him as a denizen of the universe.
This final preparation was made for two reasons.
First off, he had to be sure the Emperors wouldn't notice his abnormality upon entrance. If the Saint Emperor smelled the Void's scent in the slightest, he was sure to make moves that would complicate Damien's path.
The other reasons were similar to a smaller degree, but overall, Damien wasn't extremely worried.
After all, this was Al'Katra.
This world was undiscoverable by outsiders. It had not and could not be found, so the Nox naturally wouldn't have many defenses against enemies from the outside.
Though, considering their nature, he couldn't say the same about their preparations against internal threats, but he could only be sure about that fact once he made himself familiar with the surface.
Damien closed his eyes and concentrated his awareness into a thin string that he sent through the atmosphere.
Once he felt it connect to the ground, he warped.
His laws were currently not the same as the ones he used usually. Instead, they were the diluted and morphed versions that existed in the Abyss, similar to what Yong An utilized.
Of course, he decided to only use his spatial laws during this time, because he couldn't explain away his massive repertoire of abilities with a mere Demonic Providence.
Flash!
The feeling of teleportation was different. It was far less fluid, and it felt like the spatial corridor would throw him into a random location if he lost focus for even a single moment.
But Damien already got used to this during his journey.
Without a hitch, he reappeared on the surface of the world.
Ptui!
He immediately spit on the nearby ground.
The first breath of air he intook was disgusting. It was turbid and rancid, like the air around a rotting corpse.
As for the environment itself…
It was pure black.
The sky was covered in dark clouds, and even without them, there was no sun to provide light to the world. The desolated ground seemed unable to sustain any sort of life, and was incredibly familiar to him.
It was the exact same as No Return Pass.
In more ways than one.
The surroundings were teeming with Nox.
If Damien hadn't activated One With Dimension instantly upon entry, he would've been swarmed by them already.
But the numbers were truly unrealistic.
There wasn't a single portion of free ground in this plain. Billions or even trillions of Lesser Nox wandered without aim. They didn't even seem to attack each other often, merely walking around like zombies in the apocalypse.
Though, it wasn't as if there was no conflict.
The Lesser Nox were vessels of vice. Their natural instinct was to consume and gain power.
Therefore, while whatever was suppressing them was doing a good job, it didn't completely limit their freedom,
In several locations in the distance, Damien could see structures that looked like mountains.
But mountains they were not.
Instead, they were piles of Lesser Nox who were currently in the process of consuming each other to evolve.
'It seems they've regulated the locations of combat zones. If a Lesser Nox can't fight its urges any longer, it has to travel to one of those isolated areas to satisfy its urges.'
It was no wonder the ones around him were walking like that.
They were all desperately trying to find their way to a combat zone!
'Regardless, this isn't what I came for. They might be uncivilized in nature, but I don't believe those Higher Nox are content with living amongst their lessers.'
He already confirmed this fact through the actions of Nox in the universe. Not one time was there a Higher Nox that didn't try to form an influence after conquering a manmade structure and altering it to their taste.
'Hmm…I don't want to spread my awareness, but is there a better way to find one besides walking?'
The answer was no, but with his lack of information, he couldn't act rashly.
'Let's just suck it up for now.'
He started to move in a random direction, away from the nearest Lesser Nox feeding grounds.
He ran between the spatial layers for several hours without finding anything. Other than more and more feeding grounds, there wasn't a single other structure.
'With a world as big as this, it makes sense. I'll try flying.'
Instead of using mana, he summoned black demonic wings, a disguised form of his dragon wings, and shot into the air.
Once again, he found himself unable to see anything in the distance, but it was fine. His movement speed would be much faster this way.
Seven more hours passed like this, filled with nothing but what he'd already seen.
A terrifying understanding of the numbers the Nox possessed.
'A world of this size that's packed to this extent…disregarding the Higher Nox that probably number in the trillions, there should be at least a few quintillion Lesser Nox. The universe…'
The universe truly stood no chance against a force of this size.
'Which makes my goal here all the more important.'
Damien threw away his thoughts and continued to move. After so long, he finally saw a structure in the distance that looked different from the rest.
As he approached it, relief filled his veins.
It was a city.
Surrounded by massive walls at least a few kilometers in height, which themselves were teeming with Higher Nox guards, was a massive metroplex that was about the size of a country.
'Finally.'
Damien pondered for a second about how to enter, but soon realized there was no need to do too much.
The Nox were a simple people, and he already understood their habits well.
He undid his concealment while still too far away for them to perceive him before descending.
He landed in front of the walls that didn't seem to have any natural entrance and glared up at the guards.
"Open up before I kill you!"
His tone was brash and extremely arrogant, obviously annoying the guards.
"Who are you?!" A voice boomed down.
Damien rolled his eyes and snarled.
"Does it matter to you?! Open the fuck up before I come up there myself!"
"Tch! Fine, but don't cause trouble in here! Your strength is pathetic in front of our leaders!"
"Ha, pathetic?! We'll see about that. Unless your leader is my Lord, don't expect me to act politely!"
"Fuck! Not another one of these!"
The guards on the wall agonized over his presence, but they still granted him entry,
'It seems not everyone is directly affiliated to a Lord. But…my acting is on point?'
Damien smiled inwardly. He wasn't really acting like a Nox, more like the old version of him who was absorbed in death and destruction just like them.
The way the wall opened was…strange.
It didn't actually open at all, but Damien could feel that he could now pass through its surface without a hitch.
After glaring at the guards once more, he sauntered in with confidence.
'Nice.' He thought smilingly.
'Now, it's time to get some information.'
