'Void Sword Art Eighth Form: Collapsing Heavens'
Unlike Damien's usual actions in recent times, this one was extremely big. It was loud, powerful, and left no room for doubt.
The entire Ancient Battlefield, and even the Heavens themselves, were forced to acknowledge the power of the one who released that sword energy.
However, at the impact point where he and Immortal Blood Asura stood, it was dead silent.
Time was moving at an infinitely slow pace.
The roaring winds around them were muted as they focused on pushing their strength into each other. Cracks formed on Mirage's beautiful surface as it countered more power than it could actually handle, and instantly upon use, Damien felt his entire right arm shatter.
He was only capable of expunging Divine Energy. Guiding it through his circuits and using it was a completely different matter.
He couldn't handle it, and he knew that, but he took the risk anyway.
Instead of focusing on healing the arm, he forced his mana to keep it steady and healed only his hand so he could maintain his grip on the sword. That was enough for what he wanted to do.
The destructive force was massive enough to pressure Immortal Blood Asura, and as he continued to weigh himself down through various forces, that pressure only increased.
Damien gritted his teeth and endured it. He contained the damage to his arm exclusively as he already chose to sacrifice it.
He rapidly absorbed the wildly expanding Divine Energy from their collision and repurposed it for his own use.
'Collapsing Heavens'
He used it again.
Once again, reality warped to the extreme and weakened Immortal Blood Asura's output. The crevice in the Ancient Battlefield was pushed even deeper than it already was, leaving only a single area of untouched land where Immortal Blood Asura was standing.
"BRAT, HOW DARE YOU?!" Immortal Blood Asura roared.
He understood what exactly Damien did. He clearly saw his own mana being used against him, but he couldn't stop Damien from doing it.
Once he took damage here, he'd lose an incredible amount of face, and more importantly, Damien would gain the single second he needed to escape his range.
If Damien found a way to disarm the bloodhound and escaped to a place Immortal Blood Asura couldn't reach, when would he get a chance like this again?
He couldn't allow that to happen.
No matter what, he had to contain this insolent brat right here and now!
'...that's probably what he's thinking.'
Damien's eyes were still focused. His side was being torn apart with the second usage of Collapsing Heavens, but he pushed down the pain and continued anyway.
Time was still moving at a crawl. Whether it be their words or actions, they happened so close together that others probably didn't realize there were two separate slashes instead of one powerful one.
That was the goal.
By the time this single second passed…
Damien saw the opportunity.
Immortal Blood Asura withdrew his mana until he was using just enough to repel Damien and started compressing it within his body.
He was preparing for a larger attack.
Damien was still in the air above him with Mirage in full swing, so he was in a position that would only present him with disadvantages.
But that was fine.
He was ready to sacrifice more than just an arm to escape. As long as he kept his life, the rest could be dealt with.
Immortal Blood Asura scowled deeply and glared at Damien with a gaze maddened in hatred.
"DIE!"
He gripped down in Mirage with his right hand, shattering the blade, and pushed forward with his left, aiming for Damien's neck.
His mana reached a new quality Damien hadn't seen before. The deep maroon color signified a complex structure of laws that he'd never encountered.
It was a card Immortal Blood Asura never expected to use here, a move called Devil's Hand he'd developed using everything he learned about Blood Laws before he ascended to Divinity.
The number of people who had the right to see the power of this move could be counted on one hand, and all of them would be terrified when they felt it.
However, Damien only saw it as an opening.
'Now!'
He twisted his body impossibly in that single instant.
As the flow of time returned to normal, many things happened at once.
The shattered pieces of Mirage turned into spatial ruptures and devoured Immortal Blood Asura's hand.
This was a special quality Damien personally imbued in the sword. It didn't matter how great the spatial laws of the world were, the translucent material of Mirage would directly become spatial ruptures that latched onto it and forced it to shatter.
Immortal Blood Asura was naturally shocked by this phenomenon, happening on the Ancient Battlefield where space was famous for its solidity, and lost control of his attack.
The mana went rampant and recoiled, but he controlled it as fast as possible to get the most out of the attack.
Damien kicked off the air and twisted his body, pushing past Immortal Blood Asura and directly towards the ground below.
Immortal Blood Asura's claw ripped through Damien's shoulder.
And, as the Blood Asura Holy Master took hold of a chunk of Damien's flesh, Damien twisted again and allowed it to rip apart from his body.
Before Immortal Blood Asura could react, Damien hit the ground.
His body turned ethereal.
And he vanished into its surface.
WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The roaring winds returned. The atmosphere was thrown into spiritual chaos as the forces released in those few instants finally spread through it.
Standing in the middle of it all, Immortal Blood Asura stared at the flesh in his hand blankly.
His gaze went to the ground below.
"Damien…VOID!"
He raged.
The fact that Damien went into the ground made pursuit a hundred times harder.
After all, the ground was completely solid.
Though Damien managed to cleave it, even if Immortal Blood Asura used that crevice to go into its depths and trace him, it would take an extreme level of effort to chase.
Because Damien used a force 99% of Demigods in this place would've been killed by. Even Immortal Blood Asura was missing a hand and had several internal injuries because of it.
"DAMMIT!"
He couldn't give up now.
"BLOODHOUND!"
He called out his most trusted ability. He had more of Damien's flesh now, so following his position on the surface wouldn't be hard.
However, the bloodhound didn't move.
Its meaning was clear. Damien wasn't escaping in any other direction. He was going straight down!
Immortal Blood Asura was seething, but there was nothing he could do.
"Very well…"
He calmed his emotions.
Clenching his fist, he absorbed the bloody flesh into his body and used it to create a new hand for his right arm.
"If you wish to hide like a rat, then I shall wait."
He sat down on his position and kept the bloodhound active.
No matter how much time passed or how much mana he wasted, he would keep it active.
He snarled like a wild dog. His usually calm expression was completely gone.
"The moment you come back to the surface…"
He made a vow on his mana, an oath even the Heavens were forced to acknowledge.
"...I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU, DAMIEN VOID!"
