Damien went after Telarius and his accompanied genius first.
He was the last Demigod among them. The ones remaining from that point would be Gods.
'Can I take them?'
Damien was confident that he was stronger than most Demigods, but what about Gods?
Despite working closely with people related to them, he hadn't actually come into direct conflict with a God before. He didn't know exactly how their power worked, nor did he know about the nuances that made Gods what they were.
'Either way, I have to do it.'
He wouldn't know if he had to act until he got there, but even if he didn't, it would be good for him to see what he'd been wanting to see since he got to the Heavenly World.
'True Godhood.'
He continued thinking about it as he saved Telarius and the young genius he was protecting.
He went through the motions and didn't pay them much attention, simply sending them towards Harutos and Celeste.
To be titled a God was massive. Especially to Damien, who grew up on Earth. His perception of that level was beings who were all-powerful, people who were above people.
Seeing them living in society and acting as regular leaders, Damien couldn't imagine them being the same people who were idolized and turned into mythological figures in his homeworld.
But there had to be something.
He refused to believe the cosmos would title people True Gods without the justification to use such a term.
He knew where they were.
And he knew the opponents they would be facing.
So he went there without hesitation, his curiosity reaching an absolute peak.
He could feel the world rumbling from hundreds of millions of miles away. It wasn't a physical vibration, but a reaction in the mana that made up all things.
'It's resonating.'
These weren't random vibrations created through battle. It wasn't chaotic or disordered by the disruptive force that offensive mana was.
Rather, it was harmonizing and resonating with the few people that existed at that far distance.
Damien hid himself in the folds of reality. He used the Authority of Existence to absolutely cloak himself to the greatest of his capacity.
And after taking a few minutes to prepare to the best of his abilities, Damien moved closer until he could finally see them.
There were four of them in the sky. Unlike with the Demigods, Gods weren't a disposable force. They couldn't throw numbers at the problem to solve it.
So the Gods sent by the Straea Clan numbered the same as those they were facing, but they were strong enough to make sure the Grand Elders of the Veritas Clan wouldn't survive past today.
The four of them stood in the sky facing each other. They weren't making any special moves, but the mana was still acting as if they'd been fighting for a great deal of time.
In the rainforest below, the Young Master and Young Lady of the Veritas Clan, Romulus Veritas and Reva Veritas, were back to back, fighting a group far greater than any of the other geniuses.
'They don't look too injured.'
The battle should've been ongoing for several minutes already, but despite being surrounded by over fifty enemies, the two didn't have any injuries besides some surface-level cuts and scratches.
'I'll send a clone down, but I don't need to do anything unless the situation starts devolving.'
A piece of mana separated from Damien's body and dropped to the ground indiscernibly, weaving through the harmonic ambient mana so the Gods wouldn't sense its presence.
As the clone reached the ground and started acting on the orders given to it, Damien refocused on the Gods.
'Why aren't they moving?'
They weren't speaking or battling, so it was a little confusing, but something was definitely happening.
'The harmonized mana is flowing in two different directions.'
The stream he was in moved towards the group from behind him. He was standing behind the Veritas Grand Elders, so it felt pure and without blemish, natural beyond nature.
However, he could sense it now that he was close.
The mana behind the Straea Clan Gods was flowing in the opposite direction, pushing towards them and clashing with the Veritas Gods' mana in the space between them.
'They're not the same type of mana, either. Here, it feels like the ambient mana of the world, but on that side, it's far more chaotic, almost similar to the Abyss.'
'I can't see it.'
He couldn't no matter what he tried.
'Why can't I see it?'
It wasn't due to his abilities. He had control over ethereal existence just as he did its physical counterpart. There should've been nothing in this world that could hide from his eyes unless the power difference was just that grand.
'Is that what it is?'
He didn't want it to be that simple. He didn't want it to be a mere difference in strength.
'Or maybe it's not a matter of strength at all.'
Maybe it was a matter of "league."
Perhaps his "state of existence" hadn't reached the required level.
'But I know I can do it.'
State of existence wasn't something that mattered to him anymore. The Void Physique had fully merged with him. There should have no longer been boundaries separating him from the peak of the universe.
'No. That's arrogance. Even if I've been acknowledged by the Void, I still have a ways to go before I can reach it.'
However, there was a way.
He had to become one with the world and use Absolute Perception. He had to strengthen the All-Seeing Eyes with Void Energy.
He had to do everything in his power to enhance his perception.
That was what he did.
His state of mind reached an entirely new level he'd never experienced before. He wasn't just viewing the world through its eyes, he had opened an eye that was never meant to be open.
He looked through the eyes of reality itself and peered into the secrets of those True Gods.
He experienced another world.
'Wow…'
He let out a breath of wonder.
'This is…'
'Law.'
Law. The power that governed the universe.
He was familiar with it. He was far closer to it than anyone else he'd met.
Until today.
Until he saw a God use their power.
He controlled laws like he was a part of them. He was able to see through the world's eye and assimilate himself with them.
However, these Gods were different.
They didn't have to control or assimilate with laws.
Laws actively obeyed their will.
The mana of the world acted like a servant waiting on its master.
They were true rulers, true possessors of "Authority" over laws.
It was a level Damien had imagined many times. He'd peeked at the peak when he spoke to the Void, it was just that he had no way to understand what that peak meant because he wasn't anywhere close to it yet.
This was the closest representation he'd seen before.
These Gods were above the Laws and used the Laws however they pleased. They could wield concepts as if they had no bounds and turn Laws into absolutely anything.
And as Damien watched, a thought came to mind.
'I…'
'I could do that too.'
