The Saint Emperor spotted him at the same time he spotted the Saint Emperor, and upon realizing who he was, he smiled.
"My, my. 'Sir' Envoy, I didn't expect to see you here."
He started the conversation sarcastically.
Damien gritted his teeth.
This kind of disrespect was usual from the Saint Emperor. Of the Nox Emperors, he was the one the Envoy despised the most.
There were several reasons for this, but the main one was his strength.
According to his thoughts, the Saint Emperor was the only one who could threaten the Envoy. His power was at a level he couldn't see through, which made him infinitely wary.
And the fact that he had to be wary of a lesser existence from the lower universe ground his guts.
The two rarely had contact, but whenever they did, it proceeded just like this.
The Saint Emperor would subtly mock him, while he held his rage to maintain face.
"You, why are you here?" Damien responded passively, though, annoyance could be seen in his eyes.
The Envoy refused to call him Saint Emperor, but he couldn't call him an ant to his face nor did he know the man's true name, which had been lost in time.
So "you" could be considered an insulting form of address.
"Ah? I feel blessed by your concern for my actions, but this isn't something you need to know, right?"
The Saint Emperor's response didn't show any care for his disrespect.
Damien straightened his back and walked up to the man, standing just a foot away from him.
"Why would it not be? Did you forget who I am?"
He glared into the Saint Emperor's eyes, looking down at him due to their height difference.
"Haha, as expected of 'Sir' Envoy. There is nothing to worry about. My visit today is nothing more than a stroll in the park. The younger generation should see where they came from, no?"
Damien glanced at the group of four behind the Saint Emperor, made up of younger Nox geniuses who hadn't hit 1000 years old yet.
When he looked back at his enemy, his glare was much fiercer.
"Are you aware of the laws here? Even if you are an Emperor among these people, do you think you are enough to break the rules set by your masters?"
For the first time, the Saint Emperor's expression changed.
It was slight, barely perceptible, but his eyes turned cold, like a killer looking at his prey.
The slight bloodlust that leaked from his body wasn't something the true Envoy would've been able to sense, but the All-Seeing Eyes made it excessively clear.
'Does the Saint Emperor hold malice towards the Envoy, or…is it something bigger?'
Damien shook off his personal thoughts and focused on the conversation.
The real Envoy would try his best to find fault to punish the Saint Emperor here, and while it would delay him, he had to act out this role if he wanted to avoid problems.
"Why are you silent? Do you think I cannot do anything to you?"
Damien grinned cruelly and brought his hand up.
The Saint Emperor turned his eyes to it with a scowl.
Damien didn't have that power.
But the Envoy did.
He had an absolute authority over the Nox that could even subjugate Emperors, but he was only allowed to use it with cause.
'I wish I inherited that, but it must be a racial trait or something similar. I need to devour more of his kind if I want that.'
As Damien expected, the Saint Emperor's attitude changed.
"There is no need for worry. Naturally, I would never do anything to disrespect the Envoy, however, these juniors are quite special. They are the future of our race, so naturally, they will be beneficial to you as well."
Damien glanced back at the younger Nox.
"These ants? What can they amount to?"
"Haha, they are being trained by me, so is that even a question?"
"You are far too presumptuous for your position."
"That is not true. This is just confidence that stems from my loyalty to the cause."
"Loyalty? Do you truly possess it?"
At that moment, something unexpected happened.
"Hmm, that is the question, isn't it?"
The Saint Emperor gave a response totally unlike him.
Not just in Damien's knowledge of him, but the Envoy's as well.
He was never openly rebellious because, just like those weaker than him, just like Yong An, he had to hide his fangs and wait for an opportunity to strike.
'Has that time come?'
Damien's eyes narrowed.
"Boy, be careful with what you say. If I happen to report this to those above…"
Damien grinned again.
"I cannot wait to see what will happen to you."
The Saint Emperor raised his brow before smiling as if nothing happened.
"No worries. Naturally, I will not overestimate myself. 'Sir Envoy,' why don't you take this gift to appease your anger?"
The Saint Emperor placed his hand in Damien's and passed along a space ring whose contents were unknown.
"This is…?".
"You can consider it my tribute to you. I promise you will not be disappointed."
"Hmm…"
'I can't use mana because the Envoy didn't use mana, but I can't use the Void either…let's just keep up pretenses.'
Luckily, the Nox couldn't sense the "energy" used by the Envoy's race.
Damien raised his brow and glanced at the spatial ring as if he was observing its contents.
From what he knew, the bribes the Envoy usually received were translucent crystals of unknown origin and balls of light that reeked the stench of corrupted laws.
He could only assume this would be the same.
He put the spatial away and shook his head.
"This is not a tribute for me, but for the Lord. Do not forget who truly owns you."
The Saint Emperor nodded with a smile.
"Naturally, I will not."
Damien frowned. On the outside, it looked like he was displeased with the Saint Emperor's continued presence, but on the inside, it was an expression of his discomfort.
"Well, if there is nothing else, I shall take these juniors back to continue their training. I can promise quick results, so you do not need to worry about today's minor issue."
The Saint Emperor gave his parting words and walked away without any goodbye, whether it was a respectful bow or any sort of salute.
Damien gritted his teeth, suppressing his anger as he watched the man's figure fade into the distance.
And when he finally went out of sight…
"Phew…"
Damien let out a sigh of relief and inputted his code into the door, reopening the door that had long closed by now and entering the Demon Abyss' main area.
'Good. I'm still safe.'
He leaned against the wall and gathered his breath.
He was finally away from any sort of surveillance.
And while he'd managed to play off his encounter with the Saint Emperor and proceed without a hitch…
…his gut feeling was telling him otherwise.
There wasn't anything wrong with their conversation, at least, for the most part.
But that one sentence…
No, even disregarding that, Damien intuitively felt it.
The Saint Emperor knew.
He knew Damien's identity.
Somehow, he saw through the disguise.
But…he didn't say anything?
He didn't know what to think.
The Saint Emperor was far too mysterious, and just when he thought he'd unraveled a little piece of that man's psyche, he did something that made him far more confusing.
Damien frowned.
'Whatever the case, I'll have to find out later. For now…'
The Demon Abyss was right in front of him.
There was nothing more important than that.
