Bodies formed a blanket over the landscape.
They didn't pile up like a mountain, nor did their blood flow like a river.
They were cold corpses that absorbed all the blood they spilled, and their bodies were spread out because of the widespread carnage that killed them.
The scene ended in a few hours. The armies were enormous, or else it wouldn't have taken so long.
But whether they were Divinities or lower existences, they fell all the same, becoming part of the blanket of corpses that decorated the surrounding territories.
Damien looked down on them indifferently. His thoughts were still the same, but he was starting to contemplate other things as well.
'Maybe I shouldn't discriminate?'
He, of course, wouldn't kill the Void Palace forces, but he was wondering whether or not he should place them under a similar spell to see how they would react.
After all, Damien never forced the Divine Order troops to die.
He never forced them to succumb to their vices.
Their vices tempted them like the devil, but everyone had vices. Damien didn't think everyone in the Divine Order would be a bad person.
There was a way out. As long as they overcame their greed and stood on their morals, they could escape the temptation and regain their sanity.
In that moment, if any of them succeeded, Damien was willing to save them from the madness and send them to a safe place.
Unfortunately, none of them managed to succeed.
Maybe there were good people in the Divine Order, but none of them were here. None of them were participating in the massacre of innocents the order was trying to create in Aeria.
'Regardless, it's over now.'
Damien sighed to himself and descended through the skies, aiming to return to the–
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Suddenly, a massive force exploded in the air. The dark clouds that gathered were instantly dispersed by the power, and Damien was sent flying millions of kilometers to the west.
"...!"
Damien's senses suddenly went on alert. His natural barriers kept him from taking any damage, but he was still extremely wary.
The force that attacked him came from somewhere he couldn't detect. He didn't know who attacked him or what their purpose was, but it wasn't hard to guess.
'There's–'
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Another explosion, this time even more ferocious than the last.
It was infused with so much Light Law that Damien's eyes were temporarily blinded. His skin was burned and his insides were starting to be touched to.
But more importantly, laced within the light so covertly that Damien almost couldn't sense it, was a trace of Death Law, an absolute corrosion beyond anything he'd ever encountered before.
'–a God.'
Damien's eyes narrowed.
He put up a barrier of existence to block him from the light and pushed himself away, returning to the world outside the explosion.
His eyes widened as he expanded his field of view to its greatest capabilities.
His awareness spread out along with his mana, creating a net that would detect anyone or anything that entered it.
'There.'
It was only for a brief moment, a spark of a flash of a second, a number with so many zeroes after the decimal that it wasn't even worth mentioning.
"Something" flashed into the mana net, and it arrived before Damien in the same instant.
'Shit!'
BOOOM!
Damien's mana turned into a massive flame that solidified into a wall that folded the fabric of reality into a defense.
That was when Damien finally got a look at his opponent.
Their gender was unknown. They looked both male and female at the same time.
But they were pure white.
Whether in skin, in robes, or in anything else, they were absolutely white.
6 massive angel wings sprouted from their back, giving them a propulsion force others couldn't compete with, and their eyes…
'...are empty.'
There was no soul remaining in those eyes. Whatever made this creature a living, breathing, entity and not an automaton could no longer be called a soul.
It was devoid of all things other than the ability to execute orders it was given.
'It's a homunculus.'
But it had the strength of a God.
'Is this the true face of the Divine Order?'
As their name suggested, the Divine Order was a religious organization. The people of the Southwestern Region were believers of their doctrine, and in the eyes of those people, the Divine Order was an absolutely just force.
Void Palace had been painted as an evil influence that needed to be defeated, and their brainwashed believers didn't question the validity of that statement at all.
Because it was real brainwashing.
The Holy Empire was also a religious organization. They also had an extreme number of believers and amount of influence.
However, the Holy Empire did it naturally. The "Absolute" they worshiped and the doctrine they spread truly grasped the hearts of people.
The Holy Empire was what a religious organization was meant to be. Damien was assured of their righteousness and benevolence, because the Holy Empire, just like the Veritas Clan, was one of Void Palace's greatest allies who stood by them despite their declining state.
So when he looked at the Divine Order, all he felt was disgust.
Damien knew the Divine Order was only just on the surface. They were a corrupt and vile influence pretending to be righteous.
However, he thought it ended at brainwashing and greed. He didn't think they were killing souls and using them to create homunculi.
'The amount of torture it takes to break an ego and plunder the soul it was attached to is absolutely monstrous.'
And for the Divine Order to send a homunculus after him meant they had far more than he could imagine.
'Fucking hell…'
He didn't have time to think. In the brief span of time he took to understand the situation, the homunculus had already broken through the cage he enclosed it in.
'I have no choice.'
He had to defeat this thing.
Not only for short-term victory, but for the soul it carried.
'Even if its ego is gone, the memories in its "existence" are still very much present.'
The things he'd learn if he devoured it…
'Whether or not it's a God, it's too enticing to resist.'
Damien released the restrictions he kept on himself.
He freed the entirety of his power, because he'd need it if he wanted to win this fight.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
With a single blast of light, the homunculus broke free and forcefully charged towards Damien.
However, this time, Damien didn't retreat.
He contained heaps of mana in his eyes, enhancing his vision. He kept mana circulating through his body, so it could be summoned whenever he needed it.
And subtly, he added Void Energy into his circuits, keeping it ready in case of emergency.
It all happened in less time than it took for the homunculus to reach him.
So when they finally locked eyes only a few feet away from each other…
Damien was also ready to attack.
His arm flew forward, and the homunculus raised a spear of light to meet it.
Laws clashed through the sheer force of their auras, and as the two weapons of mass destruction came together…
The force couldn't even be described.
The skies shattered apart, and Aeria was instantly plunged into the dead of night.
In that darkness, only two stars remained.
Competing endlessly for dominance.
