Damien was in a justifiably selfish mood.
He didn't know how long he could wait before his main body would be forced out of the Void, and to extend the time he could spend with his wives as much as possible, he intentionally distorted the Sanctuary's time flow to be far, far slower than reality.
Not like it meant anything. The lower universe was just an empty Abyss now, so there was no real-time flow to use as an anchor anyway.
His main body was also in a place where the concept of time didn't exist. While he'd spent over 5,000 years in Grand Heavens Boundary as Alexander, he couldn't say how long it had been since he entered the Void.
Because he truly didn't know.
It was a strange situation where he couldn't anchor himself to any flow of time no matter how hard he tried, so determining his stay in the Void in terms of time was just not something he could do.
In the first place, it wasn't applicable to him.
With no such concept as time, he could perceive countless billions of years if he really wanted to, and the time he spent in the Void could still equate to less than a second.
Basically, it was the perfect opportunity.
He didn't need to rush.
Compared to the previous Grand Heavens Boundary's time flow, the time flow of the Sanctuary was roughly 10 times faster right now, and the time flow within the mountain range was double even that.
He could spend more than enough time in relaxation with his wives and people before the time came to leave.
That was his only plan.
He put aside training, and he put aside introspection.
The only thing he focused on was his wives, because his time was the only thing he'd always failed to provide them with.
Years passed.
He stayed in the isolated mountain range with Rose, Ruyue, and Elena. The only ones who knew their location were Elvira and Lynn, who visited occasionally for various matters, but other than those visits, the four of them spent their time indulging themselves in each other's presence.
It wasn't something grand.
They lived like mortals, in fact.
They went to sleep when night came, woke up in the morning, took turns cooking for each other, relaxed, went on dates, and utterly abused their newfound freedom to enjoy the most mundane parts of life.
Rose was finally able to put down her burdens, Elena was finally able to entertain her truest laidback self, Ruyue was finally able to open up, and Damien was finally able to release the weight of the world from his shoulders for a few moments.
They spent their days in pure bliss.
Even their interactions were so mundanely affectionate that there was no need to describe them.
They let a decade pass like that, five years in the rest of the Sanctuary, and half a year in the outside world.
That was when a certain event took place.
Well, in the original timeline, this was around the time the war was supposed to end. It took far longer to reduce the Nox to a number that could be exterminated and carry out the extermination without Alexander's presence.
And that was also when the Demigods were meant to return to the universe. With their victory simultaneously motivating the lower existences who were still fighting and applying pressure to the Nox, the war was quickly brought to an end.
But now, there was no ongoing war.
The Demigods would have originally found themselves dropped somewhere in the Abyss to figure things out for themselves, but Damien wasn't so heartless.
He even turned a portion of them into a free labor force back then, so he couldn't just let them go to waste!
He interfered from the Void and connected the return portal from the Ancient Battlefield to the Sanctuary.
While the majority of the Demigods were left to those like Luciel, who'd practically become Lynn's right-hand man in the past five years, Elvira, and Lynn herself, there were two that Damien brought to his abode to introduce to his wives.
The first was Tiamat. Since she would be a close subordinate of his in the future, he wanted her to get acquainted with them. He would likely have her spend more time with them than him anyway, so it was beneficial for them to get along.
And the second…
Well, that was the more important of the two.
Damien never planned to just sprint Iris' existence on his wives. Over the course of their past decade of peace, he slowly eased them into the fact that he had another woman, and to make sure nothing bad happened when they met, he made sure they knew all about Iris beforehand.
This included her struggles and position in the universe, the adventures they'd had together before they fell for each other, and even the circumstances behind their union.
Rose, Ruyue, and Elena were definitely a bit irked by the fact that he picked up another wife when he left, since they thought he'd gotten over that habit a long time ago, but they didn't unnecessarily discriminate against Iris.
After all, not only was she a respectable individual, but she also risked her life more than once to save Damien when he was still too weak to live alone on the Ancient Battlefield.
They thought if anyone was going to become their fourth sister, it had to be her.
Though, Iris wasn't aware of their acceptance, so when she showed up, she was quite awkward.
"I-I am Eyrissea Luminus. You can call me Iris. It is a pleasure to meet you all. Please take care of me."
Her sentences were choppy, and the silly half-bow she gave as she tried to be polite made it even more amusing.
Compared to the perception of this woman Rose and the rest developed after learning that she was the Prismatic Sun Holy Master and one of the strongest Demigods in the universe, the true Eyrissea Luminus was a gentle woman who was clearly new to love.
Rather than berating her, they happily accepted her into their ranks.
And…
"Our husband clearly has a type, eh?" Elena teased, glancing over at Damien.
"Hm? I have no idea what you're talking about," Damien instantly responded, hiding the sweat trickling down his face.
"Are you sure about that? But, wasn't our Ruyue also like that when you met her?" Rose added.
"Mm, not only me, but the two of you as well. Now that we know, we can make sure to prevent him from meeting these kinds of women in the future. Four is already enough," Ruyue finished.
"Mhm, mhm."
"That's right. I couldn't have said it better."
"Then, if our 'dear' husband would excuse us…" Rose smiled deviously.
"...we have something important to do before anything else."
Ruyue and Elena supported her eagerly, and as if they'd planned it beforehand, they whisked Iris away with them to a location unknown and left Damien alone with his thoughts.
He scratched his head with an awkward smile.
"They're probably going to tell her some things I really wish they wouldn't tell her, huh…"
However, after a few moments, his smile became pure.
"Well, it's not like it's a bad thing. She would've learned them in the future anyway, and if it helps them get closer, I don't mind sacrificing myself a little…"
"Also…"
Damien's smile went through its third transformation.
"You must be thinking something unsavory right now."
"Ah?!"
He jumped a bit and turned around.
"Oh, right, I forgot you were here."
He smiled awkwardly as he addressed Tiamat.
"Yes, I very much appreciate this kind of treatment, Sir 'I'll Take Responsibility For You.'"
"Are you being sarcastic right now?"
"Am I?"
"I don't know, but I'll have to ask you to refrain. I'll really die if they hear you, you know?"
"And why is that…?"
She tried to hide it, but Damien clearly saw her lips twitching as she hid the sly smile threatening to light up her face.
'Dangerous.'
Damien realized it instantly.
Tiamat was a threat he never expected!
"You…"
"Oh, I think someone is calling for me. I'll leave you alone now."
"You don't know anybody here."
Tiamat flinched but quickly recovered, looking out into the distance with an obviously forced calm expression on her face.
"Ah, what was that? I see…" she suddenly muttered. Turning back to Damien, she continued, "I apologize, but it seems my aid is required elsewhere."
Without giving Damien another chance to strike back with facts and deal her another dose of unadulterated embarrassment, she vanished.
This time, Damien was really left alone.
And the ever-transforming smile on his face returned to its purest state.
"Hahaha…"
He couldn't help but laugh.
This feeling…
"...it really is good to be home."
