It didn't need a wordy explanation.
Damien suffered for several moments from the pain of his internal organs rupturing one after the other, to the point where it caused Iris to panic and nurse him to health, a process that was supported heavily by his regenerative abilities.
Convincing her that he truly found the Ancient Sovereign wasn't that difficult.
The random damage he'd just taken was proof he used an ability beyond his league, and since Damien was always showing her impossible things like they were nothing, she easily accepted that he did something nobody else was able to do.
Iris was a direct descendant of the Second Primal Sovereign, which made the Ancient Sovereign her uncle. It was natural for her to want to meet him out of curiosity, but, well, to put it simply, she had her own questions to ask him.
Therefore, the two set out without wasting much time.
The distance separating them from their destination was roughly 800,000,000 kilometers. Considering they needed to take breaks to rest and would be delayed by enemies, the journey was bound to be a long one.
Nevertheless, they'd only set out recently.
It had only been a month since they disassembled and abandoned their cave hideout, and though they'd had conflict in the past month and faced several tens of Demigods, they'd only now come across a truly strong opponent.
The Plague Lord.
He had actually appeared once before in the universe. Back in the battle for Eden, he was "fended off" by Priscilla Adelaire and a force of experts.
However, that was evidently not his true body, but an Avatar that was mistaken for his true body. Otherwise, wouldn't the restriction have been triggered far earlier?
The man Damien sensed on the horizon was his main body.
He'd heard of that Lord's terrifying abilities from the stories about that battle, and considering that he was now in his complete form, his control over disease was likely much higher, to the point where it could affect Divinities.
Damien frowned and immediately went into hiding, a move that alerted Iris to the presence of a nearby enemy.
Unlike their usual battles, though, Damien identified the opponent clearly and spoke to her through mental transmission.
"The Plague Lord is approaching. How's your resistance?"
"Not great, but not bad. We just have to kill him before he can kill us. If that happens, you can cure me, right?"
"Haa, your attitude has changed so much. I don't know how to feel about it, so I'm just going to say I must be that reliable. Anyway, yeah, I can bring you back as long as it isn't fatal."
"Then that's all. How much do you know about him?"
"Just a bit."
"Then I'll fill you in."
Damien and Iris exchanged a myriad of words in the span of a single second.
Battle strategy wasn't necessary anymore, so it was just in the realm of information.
And by the time they were done, the enemy was already in front of them.
"New prey, strong prey…"
The Plague Lord spoke in broken sentences, and his gaze was dull. His body looked like sludge that had been rotted away by countless diseases, but the vitality emanating from him was great.
"Prey? It's a bit too early to be saying something like that," Iris responded aggressively.
"New prey, talkative."
"Right, I do not make conversation with irrelevant people either."
BOOM!
Iris didn't charge in, but instead made distance.
She flicked her arm forward and the worldly forces came together.
The earth rose to form a dense cage around him while the air trapped in the cave compressed and exploded. Divine Energy laced the interaction, and under Iris' control, it dug into the Plague Lord's body, dissecting him.
"Fun, good, fight."
Muttered words echoed through the atmosphere.
BANG!
The rock cage exploded into bits as the air pressure became too strong, and splotches of green sludge flew in all directions.
As the sludge landed on the ground, it separated into a variety of different disease carriers who died on the spot and spit fumes into the air.
Iris frowned.
'Not good.'
As his name suggested, the Plague Lord wasn't a direct combatant. He would torture his enemy to death by infecting them with countless viruses that would eat away at not only their life force but their soul!
His usual strategies had already been recorded. These seemingly harmless plague bearers would become the foundation of the death trap that would eventually encapsulate his enemies.
They couldn't be left alone!
However, despite her knowledge, Iris ignored them.
'The key to killing him is attrition. His body is not conventional, so conventional means will not work. I have to make sure he uses everything he can and exposes his true body. That will be the moment to strike!'
In fact, the sludge-like appearance the Plague Lord held was due to his power. His true body had never been seen, but it was rumored that he was nothing more than a frail old man underneath all those protective layers.
So her job was to strip them away!
Iris kept her eyes on the Plague Lord to make sure he couldn't get closer and exerted her will over the environment.
In the air behind her, metals constantly materialized and formed weapon constructs that she shot at him without mercy.
The ground turned into a living entity, something like a Kraken whose every tentacle weighed ten thousand pounds.
For now, these were her two main methods of attack.
Though, the Plague Lord wasn't idle either.
His speech patterns did not represent his cognitive ability. There was no way he wouldn't know that information on his habits had been spread through the enemy forces.
After all, information about them had spread among the Nox too.
"Prismatic Master, Universal Law, not good in Ancient Plane, no?"
"You do not need to concern yourself with my matters. It is more than enough to slaughter you!"
The Plague Lord grinned disgustingly and moved his arm.
From the gap of his shoulder, a swarm of locusts appeared and formed a thick shield before him.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
Iris' material constructs swept through the air, piercing into the locust wall and destroying thousands of them with every impact.
The earthen tentacles attacked at the same time, attempting to make their way past his defenses and strike him directly.
The Plague Lord grinned. His lower body melted, turning into a true river of sludge that formed its own tentacles and countered the earth.
They didn't have nearly as much destructive power, but they were extremely corrosive.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The force the earth carried was reduced by half by the time it reached the Plague Lord, but that force was still substantial.
BANG!
The side of his torso blew open as he moved to dodge the traveling force, spraying toxins into the air.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
There were several thousand tentacles. He avoided most of them, but without powerful agility, he couldn't get past all of them.
A layer of protection left his body with each hit, and the atmosphere was slowly being dyed a disgusting green color.
Iris could've considered it a small victory, but it was not one.
After all, despite losing layers of protection, the Plague Lord's body didn't seem to have decreased in size by more than a few centimeters!
And on top of that, the corrosive force of his tentacles was truly terrifying.
Instead of Iris' earth whips being something that constantly barraged and cornered him, they became one-time-use items that burned away on first contact.
Iris frowned as she continued her current strategy, using the same tactic to buy herself time to think without revealing her strength.
'This won't be easy. This guy is troublesome.'
Their battle hadn't been going on for more than thirty seconds, but the amount of corruption in the atmosphere was already reaching severe levels.
Iris wouldn't be able to protect herself from being invaded by these plagues for much longer, and the second she was infected, it became a true battle of time.
'I might have to reveal more.'
It was too early to make assumptions, but she predicted the flow so she wouldn't be forced to act without preparation later in the battle.
'For now, I'll pressure him and strip away as much as possible before my protection wears off.'
Iris did exactly that.
She expanded her abilities and used more elements than just earth and metal, mobilizing the air and even water that spawned from nowhere to her advantage.
While she only used basic elements, her control was flawless, and the depths of her law comprehension allowed her to inflict serious damage with the most common abilities.
The Plague Lord's body was being peeled away layer by layer, but he didn't show signs of worry.
After all, this was how it always went.
They always thought they could kill him first.
But it was simply never true.
He smiled, the same disgusting smile that would make people die from sheer abhorrence.
Once again, he'd found a specimen that would promote him to greater heights.
