Another month passed relatively calmly.
The Karmic Emperor stopped moving so actively, and his forces withdrew as well.
The Soul Emperor and Saint Emperor hadn't made any moves even at this point, but their forces were still acting strangely.
They did attack the universe's forces, but not as ferociously as the Inhuman Emperor's faction.
The reason was simple.
While the Saint Emperor couldn't be explained with reason, the Soul Emperor was faithful to his creators.
Their goal was to steal the universe's life force and use it as a farm for resources, which came in the form of World Cores and Universal Cores.
However, what would happen when Grand Heavens Boundary fell?
It was essentially killing the golden goose.
The Soul Emperor wanted to ruin Grand Heavens Boundary, but he never planned to completely destroy it.
Because once it was on its last breath and had no other hope, its Universal Core would be the spark that birthed a new universe, a source of more resources for his Lords.
Therefore, while he tried to conserve his troops as much as possible and fought for appearance's sake only, his true allegiance was technically on their side.
That was the only way for him to survive the victory he was hoping for them to achieve while culling them enough to accomplish his goals.
It was a convoluted mentality, but one only fit for the Soul Emperor, a man who was ironically more soulless than anyone else.
Though this mentality held positives and negatives for the universe as a whole, it was quite unfortunate for Damien.
The Inhuman Emperor didn't have infinite manpower. His people were dying more than any other faction, and as their numbers dwindled, the number of Nox combatants roaming the battlefield diminished as well.
And he couldn't act himself to fix this problem, because the second he did, the Grand Heavens Boundary faction would band together as one and hide in a turtle shell to face him.
Even he couldn't take their full combined force alone.
He was on the dull side, sure, but his survivability was great enough for him to reach Emperor status despite his habits.
Nevertheless, the battlefield was quite calm, the opposite of what Damien wanted.
He spent the last month doing far more traveling than fighting, and he was definitely hoping for something interesting to happen soon.
It's just…
It happened on a normal day like any other.
The enemy hidden in the shadows came into the light.
And it wasn't nearly the kind of "interesting" he'd been hoping for.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
An explosion of blood mist enveloped his body.
Damien immediately teleported away and surveyed the environment for his enemy, but before he could find him…
BANG!
A strong impact struck him from behind, cracking his spine and sending him flying.
'Damn!'
Damien didn't expect to be surprise attacked here. No, he knew there were only a few beings capable of doing so, and he wasn't expecting to meet them already.
'The Inhuman Emperor…? Or maybe…no, this mana…'
He instantly understood who he was facing.
He stood up from the ground as his spine healed to its regular form, spitting blood out of his mouth.
"Immortal Blood Asura."
It wasn't a Nox Emperor at all, but a man equal to Iris, a man strong enough to be titled the universe's best.
As the blood mist cleared, his form was revealed.
That same old man who pushed Damien into danger at every opportunity, ridding him of the few moments of peace he tried to enjoy, that man was standing right in front of him.
"You noticed quick. However, no matter what you have become, you are nothing before me."
BANG!
Immortal Blood Asura attacked again without waiting for Damien to acclimate to the changing circumstances.
Terrifying crimson Divine Energy filled the air, and Damien took constant damage.
Mysterious forces invaded his body, and while the Void Physique cleansed it and the Ananta Matrix stored the pure Divine Energy, it was able to damage him in the split seconds before that could happen.
'Insane.'
Damien gritted his teeth as he endured the pain of his blood evaporating.
'This is insane.'
He pushed his hands forward and summoned Rudimentary Existence Law in a flash.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The wall of law fluctuations he created for defense was shattered in a mere instant, and once again, his body was subjected to torment.
'Damn!'
His eyes narrowed to the extreme.
'He knows the difference between us, so he's toying with me before I die. He's just trying to milk his revenge for everything it's worth before slaughtering me mercilessly.'
Damien didn't stand a chance.
Immortal Blood Asura was on the level of a Nox Emperor.
Even when Iris was hindered by her inability to use Creation Laws, Damien still wasn't a match for her.
'And this is a man equal to her at her best.'
The enemy who'd been chasing him since he was barely a 4th class being. That enemy had finally come to settle their score.
No matter how much he wanted to fight, there was only one way to survive this encounter.
'I need to run.'
Damien didn't hesitate.
He flashed away countless times, teleporting hundreds of millions of miles in a few seconds.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions followed him wherever he went.
It didn't matter how erratically he teleported, or how many times he changed directions, Immortal Blood Asura always found him instantly and tormented him with Blood Laws.
'What did he do?!'
Damien hadn't experienced this before. If there was one thing he prided himself on, it was his ability to escape unharmed from any situation.
Yet, Immortal Blood Asura was following him as if he could see the future.
Damien frowned deeply and a portion of his senses inward.
'There's nothing. The laws that invaded were dispersed and absorbed, and the Divine Energy has no markings on it because of that. There's no way for him to be tracking me, at least, not from the methods I know.'
He didn't have time to spare on the "why." He had to divert his attention towards a path to escape.
'There's nothing in the Ancient Battlefield. If he can track me like this, no cave or hideout could save me. And…'
'...I can't drag Iris into this either.'
He didn't have any bastions of hope. Just like that time with the Saint Emperor, he was on his own.
Watching Damien desperately try to survive, Immortal Blood Asura grinned.
"You can no longer escape me."
He knew of Damien's abilities better than anyone else.
Damien wasn't someone who could be tracked using seals or anything of the sort.
And since attaching a tracking mechanism to his body didn't work, Immortal Blood Asura chose a different method.
A method far simpler than Damien could predict.
It was back when he directly struck Damien's back.
Instead of placing a piece of himself on Damien, he took a piece of Damien for himself.
"Bloodhound, keep going."
An arrow of blood light rushed through the air, circling Damien's current position at all times.
It was the absolute best of his tracking abilities, and it would never fail.
Damien ran with all his power, and Immortal Bloof Asura watched with a cruel smile the entire time.
"Run, run as far as you wish. No matter where you go…"
BOOOM!
Another bloody light bomb erupted on Damien's position.
"...I will always find you."
