It was about death, but the conversation didn't start that way.
One day, while they were resting in their hideout and deciding who to target next, Damien suddenly had a thought.
"Ah, what happened to Orion? I forgot about it earlier, but I was thinking it was surprising you guys weren't together."
"Ancestor…?" Iris responded wryly.
"You're right, we were traveling together, but he had some things to take care of, so he left just a few days before I met you."
"Things…to take care of?"
Iris' eyes were tinged with sorrow.
She told Damien all about the living, but she purposefully avoided talking about the dead. She didn't want to see him bogged down by their sacrifices.
But it couldn't and shouldn't be avoided. They were just as important as the living, because their heroism was what created the relatively stable situation they were currently in.
As they spoke, Damien's expression didn't change much.
Most of those who died were killed in battle, and he respected them for it, but since he didn't know him, their deaths didn't hold much weight in his heart.
They just made him realize his responsibility.
However, among the various names that he'd only heard in passing was one he was familiar with.
The Drunken Old Immortal.
A man whom he didn't know well but owed a favor to, a man who helped him plenty in the unnamed world despite their lack of connection.
His position in Damien's heart was similar to Albeus.
But from what Iris said, he died proudly.
Just like Albeus, he decided to end his own life, taking four Nox Lords with him.
Damien couldn't even mourn him, because the feeling in his heart was also pride.
That casual man who drunk to the point where it became his power, he wouldn't have wanted anyone putting themselves down because of his passing.
Once again, Damien felt the weight of the burden on his shoulders, to carry the torch he inherited from his seniors.
"...and, the in the last big incident that made the Ancestor move personally…" Iris continued.
"...the Third and Fourth Primal Sovereigns fell, and the Ancient Sovereign appeared in the Ancient Battlefield."
Damien's eyes widened as he tuned back into her words.
"The Primal Sovereigns are also included in this?!" He exclaimed.
"Yes, but also no," Iris responded.
"The Primal Sovereigns stand equal to the universe, so they aren't subjected to its restrictions the same way everyone else is, but their ability is quite unique."
"Perhaps among all entities in our lower universe, they're the only ones who can come and go from this plane as they wish."
Damien nodded in understanding.
As she said, because the Primal Sovereigns were born with the universe and not from it, he felt it was unnatural for them to be transported to the Ancient Battlefield with the rest of the Divinities.
But, it made sense if it was intentional.
After all, the Primal Sovereigns were essentially manifestations of Spatial Law.
It wasn't surprising for them to be able to go anywhere they pleased at any time without restrictions.
At least, that was the case for the first five Primal Sovereigns, since the rest weren't Divine.
"Ancestor, as well as the Third and Fourth Primal Sovereigns, are our allies, so they chose to aid us here. However, those two were ambushed by a group of powerful Lords and the Karmic Emperor, and they lost the battle in the end."
Iris sighed.
"According to Ancestor, the Ancient Sovereign appeared in that place and slaughtered the Nox Lords who killed them, but the Karmic Sovereign clearly escaped. He left to meet the Ancient Sovereign and find out the nuances of the situation."
Damien nodded again. Orion's decision made sense, and the Ancient Sovereign's presence was also natural.
After all, there were only two of them left. The Fifth, Fourth, and Third had all died at this point, so if he didn't show his face, Damien would've had to question whether he truly existed or not.
"Where are they now?"
"We don't know," Iris answered, shaking her head.
"I can feel the Ancestor's existence, so they're still in the Ancient Battlefield, but nobody has been able to track them. I don't even know if Ancestor met the Ancient Sovereign or not."
"Hmm…"
Damien furrowed his brows.
He and Iris had been doing good so far.
Along with the rest of their allies who followed their actions and started a full-frontal attack on the Nox forces, they'd successfully started the revolution they had in mind.
The war was becoming fiercer by the day, and the number of Lords they encountered and battled on a daily basis increased from just two or three to a whopping ten or even twenty.
If they kept moving like this, Damien was confident in tethering Spacetime to his Elemental-Samsara connection within the year.
However…
"I want to meet him."
He also wanted to see the Ancient Sovereign, the entity who stood equivalent to Spatial Law in a literal sense.
He was the first. His knowledge was vast, and his power was vaster.
Damien's power had changed into something completely different now, but he was originally a spatial practitioner, and he still held the law in his heart.
So he wanted to meet the one who understood it more than anyone else.
Plus, his intuition was blaring.
Deep in his soul, he felt a voice telling him that meeting the Ancient Sovereign would bring him unexpected benefits.
"It's not a selfish wish," Iris said with a shrug.
"I also want to meet him, likely for different reasons than you, but we can't. I can't even track Ancestor through our bloodline connection, so finding him is even more impossible."
"And if we could…?"
"Then, don't even think about abandoning me. I won't let you do something like that without me."
"Haha, watch your words. If you keep talking like that, I might fall for you."
"Hmph, you wish. You have to get in line if you want a chance with me."
"Oh? But, I don't think the line is so long, though?"
"I-it's very long. What're you implying?"
"Haha, I'm not implying anything. It's just…the most beautiful woman in our universe isn't very friendly, is she? I doubt anyone actually has a chance."
"That's…"
He hit her where it hurt!
Eyrrisea Luminus, the woman hailed as the greatest beauty in the entire universe, had no friends or close relationships that weren't business-related!
"Anyway, we can't find the Ancient Sovereign, so let's just focus on what's in front of us!"
"What a graceful way to change the subject."
Damien smiled.
Iris was definitely an interesting character.
They'd been together for a few months now, and he'd seen both sides of her personality.
It was like there were two versions of her.
No, there were.
Damien still saw the beautiful goddess with the eccentric appearance and the simple brown-haired woman who overlapped whenever he looked at her.
It felt like the goddess version of her appeared whenever she was in serious situations, and the simple side only ever showed itself when they were in this cave hideout.
He still didn't know why he saw her like this, but he didn't feel like this situation was similar to other cases he'd seen like Lily and Mei.
It was more like…she didn't accept that both sides were herself.
It made him want to see what would happen if these two sides combined into one. He was certain she would only find her true potential once she was able to do that.
But, again, that was beside the point.
'She says it's impossible, but I don't believe it. This ability hurts like crazy, but…for something like this, it's worth it.'
Damien put his hand on the rocky ground and spread his awareness into it.
"What are you doing?" Iris asked.
"I'm doing the impossible," Damien responded with a grin.
Iris harrumphed in annoyance at his corny words, but ignored him. She got used to his cheesiness in these months.
Damien returned his focus to the task, refusing to acknowledge the embarrassment in his heart.
He'd never done this before, but he realized it was possible almost a year ago.
'Absolute Perception.'
He was a man who controlled material existence. His body was the only thing holding him back from using this power in its true form.
So as long as he was willing to endure some pain, he could do it.
His mind became one with the earth.
His body became the earth itself.
Anything the earth could see, he could too.
He saw both the Nox and Grand Heavens Boundaries base camps, he saw Alucard and the rest, he saw the enemies he'd face in the future, and…he saw the Saint Emperor.
"Khh…"
He couldn't focus on that man right now. His hatred would only be detrimental.
Instead, he focused on the Second Primal Sovereign, Orion Luminus, who'd subordinated himself to him.
Since they already had a connection, he'd be much easier to find.
The earth responded to Damien's call and his vision blurred as his perception traveled hundreds of millions, almost a billion kilometers in an instant.
And suddenly, he saw Orion.
He was standing with another man whose visage was blurred strangely.
'Found him.'
Damien instantly recognized his identity.
That was the one he was looking for.
The only man who could hide himself from a perceptive ability of this level.
"Keuk…!"
Damien coughed strangely, forcing the blood pooling in his mouth down his throat. Without waiting a second, he memorized their coordinates in relation to his current position.
And as he went to deactivate the ability and heal himself, a voice entered his ear.
"There is no need to worry. I shall wait for your arrival."
Damien's eyes widened.
His mind returned to his body.
And once again, he experienced excruciating pain.
