Dante suddenly realized how prone to destruction his son had become, and through that realization, he also began to understand how hard Damien's life must've been.
People with his tendencies would never live easily. They would always challenge themselves to the extreme for the sake of results, even if they had to suffer immensely to see progress.
And, while they caused immense destruction with their own power, they would face destruction of the same level.
This was the duality of such a law.
It was the complete opposite of the gentle and patient Creation. It was wild, unruly, and unwilling to wait for anyone impeding its path.
'But it must've been such a mentality that propelled him to reach this place.'
It couldn't be mentioned enough times.
Dante's shock was incomprehensible to normal people.
Unlike those of the lower universe who could only regard Damien as a monster, Dante lived in the Heavenly World where monsters were everywhere.
Yet, to reach the absolute peak of a lower existence, no, to surpass that peak and fight Divinities as a lower existence…
This was something even the monsters in the Heavenly World couldn't accomplish.
Especially when they were under a hundred years old!
But for now, he had to set his shock aside.
As Damien said, the matter of unsealing Destruction came first.
"Once I lift the seal, the law will attempt to consume you. Every comprehension you should have made in your life will rush in at once, and you must make sure to keep your mind stable through it all. If you collapse from the force, it will all end here."
Damien nodded with a dignified expression.
"If it's mentality, I have no worries. Let's proceed without delay."
Dante sighed.
'I was trying to stall a bit, but it seems to be impossible.'
Yes, Damien said they could talk when they met face to face, but…
Dante's current circumstances didn't quite allow such an interaction easily.
He wanted to spend this time with his son, building a connection before their eventual meeting.
But it was fine.
The state of their relationship could only be his fault, and the pain he felt from the distance between them could only be felt by him.
This was his punishment.
Whether or not Damien thought he deserved it, this was something he bore because he couldn't stand his guilt.
'My son might be more mature than me…' he thought wryly.
To him, Damien was still just a baby.
He said he acknowledged him, and he meant it wholly, but he was a parent.
How could he ever consciously make his child suffer?
Knowing what was to come made him hesitate immensely, but if he stunted Damien's growth here, then what?
His actions would only harm Damien in the long run.
'The chick eventually has to leave the nest. Haa…'
He centered his mind and looked into Damien's eyes.
"I will start now."
He fortified his will, and in that time, Damien did too.
They proceeded immediately.
Divine Energy of a quality Damien had never felt before entered his body. It was gentle in nature, so the Void Physique and Ananta Matrix didn't react as it pierced his body and entered its soul.
Damien tried to trace its trajectory, but after it entered his soul space, it entered a place he'd never seen before and disappeared.
That place was, of course, the small cove in which his laws resided.
There, a reddish-black seed existed.
It was now joined by a chromatic seed that alternated between many colors and had a soothing aura, but in its seed state, it could not mingle with it.
Though, the reddish-black lightning arcing along its surface was clearly trying to make the connection it couldn't resist.
Dante's mana entered its territory, and as if it had sentience, it reacted violently.
It remembered the mana that left it in this state.
And it rebelled.
"Khhh…!"
Damien let out a strained breath as his soul felt the impact of its tantrum.
However, before Dante could give him words of encouragement, he bit his lip and internalized the pain.
"Keep going."
Dante nodded powerlessly.
Once again, his son's growth forced him to acknowledge it.
Dante's mana was at a level a mere seed of Destruction couldn't touch. Despite its thrashing, the mana encompassed it and invaded its surface.
It formed patterns of blue on the seed, creating an interconnected geometric pattern that covered it whole.
At that moment, the seed understood as well.
This was its time.
It was not being suppressed, but released!
It stopped resisting and let Dante's mana control it.
Slowly but surely, cracks appeared on the shell.
Until, finally…
CRACK!
It cracked in two halves.
VOOOOOOOOOM!
A terrifying reddish-black wind rushed out and consumed the shell, finally making its presence known in the world.
Damien's body jerked.
His mind was instantly filled with knowledge as Dante warned.
Every comprehension of Destruction he would've made, starting from the day he learned to shatter space appeared as one, an amalgamated ball of energy that tried to usurp control of his mind.
His body trembled as arcs of reddish-black energy streaked around it.
His internal systems were destroyed instantly.
But it was only part of the process.
Transcendent Regeneration fought back fiercely and kept him alive. His vigorous life force held on to its very last breath, not giving the Destruction a chance to extinguish it.
Damien's body was now far greater than ever.
Perhaps if this happened before he died, he wouldn't succumbed to it, but not anymore.
He stayed stable in mind and body. He took control over his soul, mobilizing Creation to quell Destruction's wildness.
The two forces finally mingled as they were supposed to.
Damien internalized every comprehension in his mind as easily as breathing.
As he'd thought before, he was closer to Destruction than anything else.
He didn't even have to think about its concepts. He didn't have to think about why it worked the way it did. And he didn't have to practice and gain experience with it.
Why would he?
He'd been following the principles of Destruction his entire life.
These concepts were engraved in his very being. This process was just a matter of him understanding their names.
And as his comprehension of Destruction grew, the concept grew closer and closer to Creation.
Damien didn't have to prompt it at all.
Destruction was an element inherently connected to freedom. It refused to be controlled. Therefore, this process was supposed to be a trial where Damien had to tame and subdue it himself.
Yet, contrary to Dante's and even Damien's expectations, the law did not try to harm him.
It acknowledged him, accepted him, and loved his mentality to an extent nobody could have predicted.
Damien was born to be its heir, and funnily enough, he'd already become one with the person born to inherit Creation.
Left to their own devices and ethereally tethered by design, they formed a tether between themselves and merged while Damien took his time comprehending their essence.
The final piece was in place.
All that was left was to tether the combination of their forces, a force that was too great to be named, to the rest.
Damien subconsciously moved to do what he had to.
A thread of Void Mana formed from the center of Samsara, and a thread of Void Mana formed from the center of Elemental.
Together as one, they shot past the bounds of their territories in the same directions stabbing into Creation and Destruction as one.
The circuit was finally closed, and…
…the conditions had been met.
Damien had finally reached that point.
He was finally going to stand equal to those on the Ancient Battlefield!
