BOOOOOOOOM!
The explosive force that decimated the mountain was nothing more than a residual effect of the original attack.
Damien realized this instantly when he survived without much problem, and didn't hesitate to teleport several million kilometers away.
'This is dangerous.'
The Ancient Battlefield.
Since he was here, it meant he couldn't rely on anything but himself.
This was a place meant for the battle of Demigods. By all reason and logic, he wasn't supposed to be here.
But the fact that he was wouldn't change.
He had no protection against Divine Energy here. There were no mechanisms preventing the Demigods from attacking him.
If an enemy happened to see him, he wouldn't even have time to register it before he died.
'Let's hide and observe first.'
Damien could be considered extremely lucky.
Putting aside his concealment abilities that were already high class, the imbalance between his soul and body made his existence difficult to perceive.
After all, his soul was baptized by the Void. This meant its existence wasn't something Demigods without knowledge of the Void could perceive.
When he only needed to hide the fluctuations of his body, it became far easier to separate himself from reality and make himself truly imperceptible.
And that's exactly what he did.
A variation of One With Dimension went into effect. Damien vanished into the folds of space and isolated himself with several Dimensional Cages, effectively hiding himself within a fraction of a second.
That gave him the security to observe the ongoing battle.
The Nox Demigod appeared first.
That man didn't have many features distinguishing him from other Nox, but his mana was surprisingly light, far separated from the mana most Nox used.
'That must be a result of his Demonic Providence. It's kind of ironic to see something titled demonic looking so holy.'
Damien couldn't accurately gauge Divine Energy with his current abilities, but he could at least understand its attributes.
It was extremely sacred. It was a mana that should've been used to heal, but this Nox used it for the complete opposite purpose.
Every attack had the capability to siphon life from its target and weaken them, and from the way he fought, it was evident he loved to torture his opponents until their last breath.
'And the one he's fighting is…'
Damien had a relatively decent understanding of the Demigods on the universe's side.
He was certain he could understand the one fighting if he saw the mana, but…
BOOOOOOOOOM!
His eyes widened.
Wasn't this mana…a little too familiar?
He sharpened his perception and peered through the clouds of dust and Divine Energy in the atmosphere, instantly confirming his guess.
'That's…Albeus!'
A Demigod from Shadow Garden, Albeus was a great help to him when he was fighting on the unnamed world, but they'd had almost no contact since then.
Damien was wondering what he was up to, but he didn't expect to meet him again like this!
'Calm down. Their levels seem matched, so it shouldn't be a problem.'
The fight was already underway by the time it reached Damien, and it definitely wasn't an isolated incident.
The two Demigods were already injured to varying extents, and as they continued to fight, their injuries only worsened.
It was definitely interesting to watch if Damien let go of his personal feelings.
Since both of them used mana with light attributes, their battle was like multiple stars exploding and creating supernovas that swept through the space.
The Ancient Battlefield was specifically built to house Divinities, so its space didn't budge, which protected Damien, but the environment wasn't so lucky.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Divine Energy ran rampant.
'The last time I saw Demigods fight was when the Fifth Primal Sovereign showed up. Back then, I was somehow able to involve myself without incurring the universal restrictions, but if I tried the same here…'
He'd seen two Demigod battles, but neither of them compared to this.
After all, the first was between two with fractured Divinities, and while the second involved over a hundred Demigods, its impact didn't come near what he was seeing now.
'Why is that? When the old man and the rest fought the Primal Sovereign, they definitely went all out. The old man's divinity was fractured, but the rest were still in good condition, so why…?'
Was it a matter of strength?
Was the strength difference between Demigods so massive as they grew?
Or was there another reason?
Damien shook his head. This wasn't a question he could answer before understanding Divinity himself. For now, he could only watch this battle at a superficial level without gaining much.
As it continued, a difference appeared between them.
The Nox Demigod's life siphoning was clearly taking effect.
Albeus' pace was slowing down by the second, but his attack power didn't lessen.
As Albeus realized his disadvantage, he rushed in and disallowed the Nox Demigod from using his ranged power.
However, life siphoning wasn't something he could stop.
It was clear he just wanted to deal as much damage as possible.
They exchanged countless blows in just a few instances. Their fighting techniques weren't extremely refined, but for some reason, their exchange felt like a well-thought-out play without any viewers.
'It's because they're predicting each other so well. Even if they don't specialize in close combat, they're able to replicate the moves of a master through perception alone.'
It was amazing.
It was no wonder the 5th class was so far separated from the classes before it.
It made sense that one needed nine revolutions to even be on the cusp of this power.
This kind of foresight coming from nothing more than regular perception was amazing.
But…
The battle was a tragic one.
The power to control one's life and death at a touch was terrifying.
Unless one had appropriate countermeasures to protect their life force, power level didn't matter.
Because this Nox Demigod's power seemed to ignore all defenses to directly target one's lifeblood.
'Albeus…'
Damien gritted his teeth.
'...is going to die.'
He wasn't the only one who realized this.
Albeus understood his fate several minutes ago, but he kept fighting.
There was no way to escape here. His speed wasn't fast enough to get away from his enemy, and even if he was, he'd be essentially crippled when another Nox Demigod inevitably found him fleeing.
So he made a choice.
Even if he was going to die, he'd make sure this Nox Demigod would lose his life here too!
He gathered all his power together.
His body was frail and weak. It wouldn't live more than a few more years even if he lived here.
And to a Demigod, that was just a blink of an eye.
He didn't need that time.
He already accomplished everything he set out to do in life.
The Shadow Garden he raised was now proudly standing amongst the soldiers of the Human Domain, and had the protection of Luciel himself because of Tian Yang's connection to the angel.
So it was fine even if he died.
As long as he died while contributing to the great cause they were fighting for, he didn't care.
His mana gathered in his core.
He burned his blood away and took the last few years of his lifespan to strengthen the mana he held.
And finally…
Damien closed his eyes.
He didn't want to see it.
But he heard it well.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
An explosion far greater than any other.
A force that leveled the area for several dozens of millions of kilometers.
Light that covered the grey and bleak environment and painted it in majestic beauty.
And the crushing feeling of death.
Divine Energy raged for over half an hour before it finally settled down.
When Damien opened his eyes again, there was only one man remaining in the area.
He was crippled beyond belief. He'd lost both legs and an arm, and his torso was practically burnt to a crisp. Several holes were present in his body, allowing one to see the area behind him clearly, and his head was only half of its previous size.
But there were faint signs of life force emanating from his body.
He was still alive.
With the abilities of a Nox, even if it took a long time, he'd be able to reach peak condition if he was left alone.
Damien gnashed his teeth.
'I can't allow that.'
Albeus' sacrifice was inevitable.
It happened so fast that it almost lost meaning, but to Damien, it deeply engraved an understanding of what the Ancient Battlefield was like into his soul.
Perhaps it was quick, but it had unprecedented value.
To sacrifice his life for justice…
'Albeus was a great man. A man of honor that I can't compare to. His sacrifice…cannot go in vain.'
Damien exited his hidden dimension with cold eyes.
It would've never been possible under other circumstances, but right now…
…he would kill this Demigod.
