"Void Palace…?"
Damien was surprised when she suddenly brought it up. He had no idea she'd figured out his affiliation, nor did he know how she did it.
"What do they have to do with me?"
"There's no point trying to act uninvolved. Unfortunately for you, each of the eight great clans has their own insignia to set them apart from the masses," Yulia replied with a smile.
"For our Veritas Clan, it's the third eye on our foreheads…"
She raised her bangs so he could see it. It wasn't a physical eye, but a tattoo-like marking faded into the skin like it was natural. It looked mystical, and just gazing into it made Damien feel compelled to tell the truth.
"...and for Void Palace, it's your unique purple eyes."
Void Palace was different from the other clans because their trait wasn't a marking, but something genetic. It made it seem like everyone in the clan was from the same lineage, but that wasn't true.
The direct descendants of the Void Lord were born with natural purple eyes, while the members from other lineages and those taken in from the outside would eventually develop the same eyes when they started practicing Void Palace's techniques.
There was a difference between the two, but it wasn't something known to those outside the clan.
The direct descendants of the Void Lord were born with natural purple eyes, while the members from other lineages and those taken in from the outside would eventually develop the same eyes when they started practicing Void Palace's techniques.
There was a difference between the two, but it wasn't something known to those outside the clan.
"You did a good job hiding when you left the ship, but you made a mistake forgetting to hide before meeting me."
Damien raised his brow.
"It's definitely an interesting thing, but haven't we already had the conversation about me being an Ascender? You know that kind of thing doesn't exist in the lower universe, right?"
Yulia's smile widened.
"Isn't that the most curious part?"
She grabbed her cup and took a sip of spirit liquor, pausing as if she wanted to make her next words more impactful.
"This rule applies throughout the entire cosmos, whether it be here or the lower universe. The fact that you are an Ascender just makes your existence even more mysterious, and far more amusing to understand."
"..."
Damien didn't know what to say.
'Well, that's some shit.'
He really got played.
"Don't worry," Yulia continued.
"My crew is absolutely loyal. None of them will reveal anything unless I tell them to, and most of them probably didn't even put two and two together on their own."
The unique traits of each clan were definitely noticeable, but there was also a specific demeanor that those who ruled the world possessed.
It was impossible to stand in a position where quintillions of existences bowed before one's feet and remain someone without regality.
However, Damien didn't possess it at all. He did have eyes that set him apart from the rest, but he acted like a commoner.
It was a small detail, one that nobody would directly notice but inherently understand, but it was enough to make people believe in coincidence.
Damien sighed to himself.
"I guess there's nothing I can say to deny it…?"
"Nothing at all."
"Then let's just continue with the conversation. What's the situation with Void Palace?"
Yulia nodded, her brows wiggling slightly as she reveled in her victory.
"A few million years ago, Void Palace wasn't an influence that could be considered one of the eight great clans. Rather, it was an influence that stood above us all. Unfortunately, that status couldn't be maintained. It all changed so fast that it seemed like it happened in a day."
As the story went, the war with the Foreign Races had become large and small over the eons, but it always had a place in the Heavenly World's history.
And because they came through Dimensional Cracks, the influence known as Void Palace rose to prominence faster than anyone else.
On top of their main lineages, whose powers and abilities were varied and unpredictable, they gathered all the spatial practitioners in the world and became a haven for them.
These spatial practitioners were incredibly important, because only they had the ability to regulate Dimensional Cracks, which gave the Heavenly World a great advantage against the invading enemy.
With the passing of time and the growth of their power, Void Palace rose and rose and rose until nobody else could stand up to them.
And naturally, that attracted ire from other forces.
They had large and small conflicts with several influences, including a few of the eight great clans, and their power was diminished to an extent, but even then their foundation couldn't be shaken.
Until that day.
"The Void Lord disappeared."
They lost their pillar.
The man who created Void Palace and led their development, the man who was the source of all of their inheritances and legacies, the man who was regarded as the strongest in the world…
That man disappeared from the world, and no matter how much time passed, he never returned.
"Void Palace could never be broken. Their influence is too strong, the common people support them to almost a fanatical level, and their importance to the world is too great for anyone to force them to disband."
"But without their pillar, they weren't able to maintain their previous status. They eventually became the eighth of the eight great clans, and their land was encroached upon by several other forces."
"The Divine Order of the Southwest and the Straea Clan of the North both started biting off chunks of the Southern Region, and while the Kyushu Federation never showed real hostile intent, as a mercantile empire, they naturally started expanding as well."
"The legacy of Void Palace became weaker, and they were forced to hole themselves up in their own principality. They haven't been able to properly fight against those trying to destroy them. Their geniuses still come out and show their strength to prove that Void Palace is still a great clan, but that isn't enough to fight the other great clans."
"The situation has been getting worse recently. Divine Order seems to have encountered something that greatly raised their overall combat power, and the Straea Clan has become more forward in their conquest. If this continues, the Southern Region will be divided between other powers in at most a decade and Void Palace will lose its standing."
"They need a leader, they need unity, and they need a chance to start fighting back."
Yulia basically finished her overview there. She outlined the enemies and allies of the clan among the eight great clans, where the Veritas Clan was called their greatest ally, but Damien didn't pay much attention to that part.
He could hear it directly from the people at Void Palace when he got there.
His mind had been elsewhere for a while now.
The Void Lord…
His father…
Dante Void…
'...has been missing for millions of years?'
Damien knew something was wrong.
Dante had been in a situation where enemies and tragedy pursued him everywhere even when he was born, but Yulia was saying it had gone on for millions of years…?
'No, more importantly, he's still missing.'
He was still gone.
The man who had been speaking to him as if nothing was wrong ever since the first time he met his projection was missing at a time when his clan was being attacked from all sides.
'He might be an absentee father, but the Dante Void I know would never leave this situation alone if he knew what was going on.'
There was something deeper here.
Something was happening to his father and his clan. He needed to find out what it was as soon as possible.
'Void Palace was meant to be the backing that allowed me to move freely in the Heavenly World once I had some status. Even the plans I made for the Foreign Races relied on their influence to an extent.'
He was staying in the Eastern Region because he wanted to prove his worth to those people before heading there, but, as Yulia said, he couldn't be so leisurely anymore.
'The Southern Region…'
He had to go there.
But not yet.
'Yulia said the Veritas Clan is our greatest ally, but they seem relatively uninvolved in the happenings of the Southern Region.'
His plans didn't necessarily change overall, but the intent had to be revised.
'Rather than recognition, I now need backing.'
He needed to pull the Veritas Clan into the struggle, so Void Palace could gain the footing to return to its proper place.
'And to do that…'
His eyes hardened.
'...I need to work.'
His gaze turned to Yulia once more. He took a deep breath and calmed himself before opening his mouth to speak.
"Let's make a deal."
Yulia's eyes sparkled in interest.
'This brat…'
She smiled to herself.
Her thoughts didn't need to be spoken. She was the only one who needed to know them.
But she was looking forward to it.
The moment Damien Void returned to his palace, that is.
