Immortal Blood Asura's declaration wasn't a joke.
No matter how far Damien ran, he was always a step behind, to the point where it was terrifying.
But in this situation, Damien really had no choice but to flee.
Nox Emperors were on a completely different level. They weren't people who could be compared to the masses.
It was hard to tell with just Iris' strength, but that was only because she was restricted.
In Grand Heavens Boundary, using Universal Law, she was basically invincible. She had the potential to return to that post once she got used to Creation, but she wasn't there yet, so Damien hadn't seen her peak.
The Nox Emperors had reached a level of Divinity others couldn't dream of. It was the peak of what one could accomplish in the lower universe unless they spent uncountable eons living like the Saint Emperor.
When Immortal Blood Asura was put on the same level as them, his power became clear.
Damien's abilities that could kill even those like the Strength Lord, who were considered closest to the Emperor level, didn't hold a candle to their existences.
He found out himself.
It wasn't as if Damien didn't try to fight back at all. Once he realized the futility of fleeing, he did try to strike Immortal Blood Asura and create a more favorable situation.
However, the result was clear.
Rudimentary Existence Law couldn't harm him, and of course, its individual parts were the same. Damien simply didn't stand a chance.
But unlike that time with the Saint Emperor, he was still alive and could handle Divine Energy.
He wasn't completely hopeless.
'There are two options on how to proceed.'
Damien swerved through the atmosphere. He used teleportation whenever he needed to make distance, but he didn't use it to throw off the opponent that wouldn't be affected by its surprise element anymore.
'Immortal Blood Asura is still in the mood to play, so either I find people to support me and take him down, or I find another method of escape.'
The former seemed like the best option, but that was only if one forgot his position. It would take a large number of Demigods to drag him down, and the losses they suffered would harm them in the long run.
Now, with the situation more stalemated than ever before, a loss of momentum and power wasn't something they could afford.
'Then, the second option…'
Before the enemy got serious, Damien needed to find a way out of this situation.
'Cave abodes won't work, and staying on the ground won't work either. I don't have time to conceal myself, and if I waste time on that, I might not get the chance to escape later.'
He had to save concealment as a last-ditch effort.
'That leaves me with two places.'
Either the heavens or the earth.
'Let's go up first.'
BOOM!
Damien abruptly halted his momentum and used Vector Control to redirect his force.
His body shot upward with untold speed, a move Immortal Blood Asura didn't predict.
However, he wasn't nonplussed.
"Hahaha, digging your own grave, I see!"
He knew what Damien was about to find out.
BANG!
Once Damien reached the top of the sky, he crashed into an invisible barrier.
'Damn!'
He used that collision to feel out its power. It was at a level far above anything he'd seen before, definitely not something even Immortal Blood Asura could break.
'Of course it's a simulated sky. This fucking place…'
He cursed as he rapidly changed his target.
If the heavens didn't work, he had to burrow into the earth.
'I haven't seen any signs of a subterranean world since I got here, but I'll definitely be able to buy some time if I go that way.'
He had an ability others didn't, after all.
WHOOOOOOOSH!
The winds wrapped around his body and turned into a burning flame as he rushed downward with all his power.
He used multiple abilities in tandem to increase both his weight and speed. If he were to land anywhere else with this kind of force, he'd have started an extinction event.
But the Ancient Battlefield wasn't so fragile.
Damien knew that well.
He was never aiming to do it this way from the start.
A sword appeared in his hand.
He hadn't used Mirage in over a decade, but during his stay in No Return Pass, he'd spent several years researching the art of forging so he could improve it.
Mirage was now a Demigod-rank weapon. Even if it was his current power, the sword could handle it.
'Just one burst. I need to use it all at once.'
Immortal Blood Asura was waiting for him below with a wide grin. It seemed he was preparing to confront Damien head-on and provide some serious mental trauma.
But Damien had other plans.
He gathered it all into his sword.
He was going to use something that shouldn't have been possible for the current him.
'One at a time…slowly, now…'
Pure Divine Energy circulated through the blade.
Everything he'd collected so far, from the Plague Lord, Strength Lord, Bow Lord, Venom Lord, Marionette Lord, Immortal Blood Asura, and everyone he fought during his two-year stay on the Ancient Battlefield gathered into his sword.
He was encased in its light.
He was a shooting star, a comet of unbelievable brightness that shot down like a sun about to collide with the world.
Even Immortal Blood Asura felt wary seeing that power, but he wasn't afraid. This was still within the realm of things he could deal with.
This clash was by no means subtle.
No, it attracted the attention of all beings on the battlefield.
From the corners of the world, those like the Ancient Sovereign and Saint Emperor turned their gazes to the familiar mana.
And from the center, those desperately fighting for their survival like Alucard and Tang Lingzi marveled at a mana they'd never expected to feel here.
A second trickled by, and the collision of two major powers was only sparks of time away.
That's when Damien swung it.
That sword filled with Divine Energy.
To use the eighth installment of the series he'd been building since his days in the First Dungeon.
"Huu…"
Damien took a deep breath.
Immortal Blood Asura's eyes widened in frenzy.
"COME, RAT!"
He pushed his class forward, wrapped in monstrous amounts of bloody Divine Energy.
"Old bastard, just die!"
Damien's sword connected.
In that moment, it was like Heaven and Earth collapsed into each other.
Reality twisted, becoming something it should have never been. The existing laws were pushed out of its bounds and replaced with only those Damien allowed.
The bright sword light covered the entire world. From one end of the Ancient Battlefield to the other, everyone saw it.
And when it finally burst, the impact was terrifying.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The mad sword energy rushed down like the heavens themselves had fallen.
A crevice dug hundreds of meters into the Ancient Battlefield's earth, cutting it cleanly into two parts.
Tens of Demigods were caught in the blast, torn to shreds without rhyme or reason.
And in the midst of it all were two people.
The man proclaimed Grand Heavens Boundary's strongest, and the man who aptly named this reality-warping sword.
'Void Sword Art Eighth Form: Collapsing Heavens'
