"You knew?"
Alexander's eyes widened in surprise. It was less about Yong An's belief that he was alive, since most of his other associates felt the same, but how did he know Alexander was Damien?
"How could I not know? Did you forget where we are?"
"That…"
Damien smiled. The Abyss was definitely a fantastical force. If Yong An could read the nature of his soul fragment within Alexander's body, it meant he'd reached an unreal level.
"It seems you've gotten much stronger since the last time we met."
"That is natural, however, my growth cannot compare to yours in the slightest. Was death so beneficial?"
"Surprisingly, yes, but I'd prefer we don't joke about it."
Damien responded wryly. He was glad his friend could still act this sarcastic about a serious topic like that, but still, he didn't want to remember it more than he had to.
"Putting that aside," Yong An continued, noticing Alexander's awkward expression, "you must have a reason for visiting me this time, no?"
"Of course."
He did want to make personal visits, but there was a time and place for that.
The war would be over soon enough, and when that happened, he could take all the time in the world to relax and spend time with the people he forgot to cherish.
"I know you've already made contact with the Judgement Order, but I'm not here to talk about that this time."
Yong An's eyes widened. That was unexpected.
He didn't know what else Damien could possibly be talking about, but…
"The Saint Emperor is dead."
His heart skipped a beat.
"What did you just say?"
"I said the Saint Emperor is dead. I killed him."
"Wha–"
"I know it's confusing, but it's the truth."
Damien didn't explain anything about the battle.
By the current timeline, it hadn't happened yet, but because the Ancient Battlefield was disconnected from the lower universe, he could still talk about it.
The causality wouldn't be touched by something like that, since his actions here couldn't impact the Ancient Battlefield.
Yong An naturally had a load of questions about the event, but Damien did his best to avoid the ones he could while answering the ones he couldn't.
He had gained respect for the Saint Emperor, because he understood the Saint Emperor's actions.
However, Yong An was his friend.
Yong An was someone whose life was ruined by the Saint Emperor.
He was raised as a sacrifice so Damien could grow, so the plot could progress, and while the Saint Emperor might've had a just cause for doing so, his actions weren't just in the slightest.
Yong An's family had been destroyed, and his life was a torturous hell from childhood until the moment he faced Damien for the second time.
So no matter how Damien felt about the Saint Emperor, he couldn't let it be known.
The Saint Emperor had to be remembered as a villain.
That was the only way his desires could be realized.
It made Damien feel uncomfortable. He had all of the Saint Emperor's memories, so he was well aware of how the man felt while he took actions like he did with Yong An, but what did that matter?
No matter what he said, no matter how he tried to justify it, there was no way to redeem the Saint Emperor in the eyes of Yong An and the rest who suffered by his hand.
That conversation was difficult to have with all these complicated emotions filling his mind, but Damien eventually got to the end of it.
And when he did, he was finally able to get to the main point.
"Do you remember that day you told me about the 'curse' your race suffers from?" He said.
Yong An nodded. He remembered very well, and he was still suffering under its influence now.
"I can remove it."
Those were Damien's words.
"I can remove that curse and grant you freedom, so please use that freedom for me. I will take you and your people to the Heavenly World with me, and together, we can fight against the true cause of your race's misfortune."
This was his goal.
The Nox were an enemy force for the most part, but at this point, Yong An had gathered every one of them who was willing to change their ways.
His followers were people who could be redeemed, and Damien was absolutely willing to aid them in said redemption.
Yong An was naturally surprised by his suggestion, but…
Damien was his savior.
Damien was the one who offered him a chance at redemption in the first place, and it could be said that everything he had now stemmed from this man.
So was there even a question?
He held his hand out with a smile as if it was a foregone conclusion.
"I'm looking forward to our future cooperation."
Damien looked down at that hand with the same smile as he shook it.
"As am I."
***
Damien spent a decent amount of time with Yong An.
The two of them talked about many things, and Damien had a chance to explain what happened to him after the events of Al'Katra.
His story was mystifying, practically a thing of imagination, but the fact that it was all true made it even more unbelievable.
Even Yong An, who had developed a practically fanatic faith in Damien's strength after everything that happened, was baffled as their conversation continued.
"Are you not going to meet them?"
Yong An eventually addressed the elephant in the room, but Damien shook his head.
"Not in this body. I'm afraid I won't be able to hold myself back when I see them, and I'd rather have that reunion face to face."
It was a matter of selfishness more than anything else, but it was also for safety.
Causality was a complicated concept that couldn't be understood easily. Damien didn't know how his presence, his true presence, in their lives right now would affect them.
And more than anything else, because of how pivotal they were in the war effort, he couldn't influence their actions in a direction outside what they were naturally experiencing.
Yong An somewhat understood it. Well, he understood as much as he needed to.
"So, basically, you're going to use me to tell them."
"I'm glad you catch on quickly."
"Haa, this is going to be really annoying. You know they won't trust me easily, right?"
"Hmm…"
He wasn't wrong. His wives would already be skeptical since Yong An was a Nox, but they would be even more skeptical if he started saying things like "Damien is alive" without any sort of proof or evidence.
Too many Nox had tried to manipulate the universe's people for them to trust their race easily, even if they were the good kind like Yong An.
"Ah, how about this," he said.
His face turned redder than his hair.
Something only the girls would know, something that should have never seen the light of day ever again…
Damien definitely hesitated to say it, but it was the only way to show them he was truly back, even if he couldn't see them personally.
Because the only way for Yong An to know was if either they told him personally, or if Damien told him himself.
He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak.
"Next time you see them, tell them this…"
As Damien said what he wanted to say, Yong An's eyes widened into saucers.
He had a feeling.
He definitely…just heard something he was never supposed to hear.
