The world went silent.
In the first place, the battle began because of that.
The Heavenly Order and the barrier of law gave off such wondrous fluctuations that the Nox Lords gathered here for a chance to get their hands on whatever was inside.
And the Grand Heavens Boundary side, who understood what was happening, came for the sake of protecting that man until his Cosmic Rebirth ended.
The barrier of law never got involved in their struggle, because no matter how many of them died because of their inherent weakness, they kept this goal in mind.
They did not let a single Nox approach that barrier, including the Karmic Emperor, strongest of them all.
Now that it was coming down, its magical fluctuations dispersing as if they never existed…
The Nox were finally going to find out what they were fighting for.
And the allied forces were finally going to find out whether that man was worth protecting.
In this silent world, an opaque yet transparent barrier came down from the heavens to the earth, slowly revealing the scene inside.
There stood a single figure, tiny in comparison to the barrier, yet with a presence far surpassing it.
His hair was long and black, flowing a quarter of the way down his back like an abyssal waterfall, devouring the light around it. His face was chiseled as if it had been sculpted by the Heavens themselves, and his body was worthy of being called nothing less than the perfect male physique.
He wore robes like a scholar, black in color, and brushing lightly with the wind around him. A serene appearance, like a starry night sky, unbothered by any and all things.
And…
He was vague.
They could all sense these things inherently. They could picture what he looked like in their minds. Yet, their perception could not see him at all. In their eyes, he was nothing more than a shadow.
A shadow with deep, amethyst purple eyes that tightly grasped the souls of those who dared look into them.
He was Damien Void.
He was the Hegemon of Law, the man who stood equal to the Heavens, the God Killer, and the bane of all things.
And finally, he graced the Ancient Battlefield with his divine presence.
"DAMIEN VOID!"
A sacrifice was already in place for him.
Immortal Blood Asura ignored everything. He didn't care about Damien's aura nor his pressure, he shot forward with his claws outstretched with the only thought in his mind being the death of that man.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Bloody red Divine Energy wildly whipped through the atmosphere, crushing the air itself as it destroyed everything in its vicinity.
Even the Demigods standing hundreds of kilometers away could feel the terrifying aura of that attack, and subconsciously backed away despite being out of its range.
Everyone continued to watch in silence.
An attack like that…
Even if he was a Divinity, that man had to have died.
It was a shame.
After all, he'd just ascended. Moreover, he was meant to be the universe's hope.
A collective sigh spread through the Grand Heavens Boundary side as they watched Damien die at the hands of one of their own.
But before their morale could drop…
"T-there's something…!"
Somebody yelled out.
As the energy cleared away, the eyes of the crowd turned as wide as saucers.
"Immortal Blood Asura, it's been a while. Did you miss me?"
Damien stood unharmed with the claw in his grasp, a thin veil of energy covering his body.
"YOU…!"
Immortal Blood Asura roared again, but Damien wasn't planning on listening to his nonsense.
No, he wanted to try this new energy in his body, the strange force his mana had transmuted into as he ascended.
It was not Divine Energy, but for the sake of familiarity, until he could use the energy in its base form, he cloaked it as such.
Within a fraction of an instant, his fist was already making contact with Immortal Blood Asura's chest.
BOOOOOOM!
"Kahak…!"
Immortal Blood Asura spat out mouthfuls of blood as his body shot back.
Damien raised his hand without leaving his position.
"Move."
Divine Energy pulsed from his body, and, as if his command was inviolable, reality itself moved.
The earth shot up like a sentient being and chased Immortal Blood Asura, slamming into his flying body over and over again, disallowing him from regaining his balance.
The skies became material and exuded extreme pressure that limited his movement speed, the dark clouds turned solid and barraged him from above with icicles made of metal, and even the atmosphere twisted around him, choking him and moving all the surrounding Divine Energy away from him.
Immortal Blood Asura did his best to fight back. He used the mana within him since the ambient mana was avoiding him, he attacked the skies and the earth to get away from them, however…
How could he face reality itself?
"Silence."
Damien's voice rang out again.
Immortal Blood Asura's eyes widened.
His mana was…disobeying him?
With a single word from Damien, it retreated back into his body and hid itself away as if it were a rabbit facing a terrifying beast.
He was left with only physical protection and power.
"DAMMIT!"
He yelled indignantly.
He punched out, crushing the waves of earth that tried to bring him down.
He punched out, shattering the metallic clouds that barraged him.
He punched out, trying to shatter the sky itself for betraying him.
However, that was the limit of his power.
Without Divine Energy, he was nothing.
"How pathetic."
Damien's words were devoid of emotion.
To think this was the man who pushed him so far in the past.
To think a mere bug like this ever dared to make him suffer!
'No, he is just a stepping stone. My true enemy is…not someone who can be dealt with so easily.'
Damien shook his head.
Looking at Immortal Blood Asura now, he understood his position in the lower universe.
He was indomitable.
That man who could do nothing but flail around in desperation and denial used to be the strongest.
But no more.
"Just die."
The forces of Life and Death followed the orders of their Absolute.
Life rapidly left Immortal Blood Asura's body, returning to Damien's grasp, while Death took its place, wilting his body and soul into husks.
"Immortal Blood Asura, do you regret it?" Damien asked.
That man, at the end of his rope, gritted his teeth with blood leaking from the side of his mouth, his eyes as fierce as ever.
In these few seconds, he'd been humiliated, trampled, and left in the sorriest of states, however, he refused to fold on his beliefs.
That was the last remaining pride he had.
He could not talk, but his stance was as clear as day.
"Understood."
There was no need for more words.
Damien pushed his palm down, and the inescapable force of Spacetime crushed down on Immortal Blood Asura, splattering his body into chunks of flesh and bones.
'Devour'
Damien no longer needed to be near the target.
The world itself leaked the energy of the Void, devouring Immortal Blood Asura's lonesome soul into its depths.
And Damien…
Damien gained his "everything."
His memories, his laws, his bloodlines, his strength, and most importantly…
'His Legends have been absorbed into mine.'
This was the newly reborn appearance of Devour.
If one looked at Damien's status window, they'd understand it all.
[Devour Level Max]
It reached its full potential, and Damien became a man who could take any and everything his enemies ever created or gained.
He was the budding ruler of reality itself.
Nothing was beyond his grasp.
He looked down at the battlefield, uncaring of the death of his great foe, and smiled.
"If it took that much to kill him…"
…then these people required no effort at all.
Damien's palm pushed forward once more.
"All of you…"
As if he carried the weight of the world in his every word, the people below, whether denizen or Nox, held their breaths and watched, unable to interfere in his divine judgement.
"...cease existing."
There was no sound.
There was no emission of mana.
There was no presence whatsoever.
At once, within a single instant, without a word of opposition…
…every Nox Lord in the vicinity vanished from existence.
Their memories, their Demonic Providences, their bloodlines, their strength, and most importantly, their Legends all became his.
He was Damien Void.
In times of comfort, he was warm, caring, charismatic, relaxed, and unrestrained.
However, on the battlefield, he was absolute.
This was his path.
This was the path of a Hegemon.
