Duality.
Damien always practiced with duality in mind.
He never leaned too far to one side, because his path was one close to nature. Just like everything in the natural world had an equal and opposite, his laws were the same.
Duality was an extremely important concept, not just to Damien, but in general, but it wasn't a concept that could be comprehended.
It was an overarching truth on a completely different level than other concepts. Therefore, while Damien always kept it in mind, he was never able to harness the power of duality properly.
But if he could…
He knew it would create something amazing.
For this move, he separated his laws and abilities into two equal and opposite parts. When he used everything he had, from Existence to the Void, to ease the tension between both sides and bring them together…
VOOOOOOOOM!
A massive pulse of mana spread through the sky, bringing light to the dark world.
The homunculus was immediately pushed back before it could properly approach Damien with its Edict.
His eyes opened, and their color changed to match the powers in his hands.
Damien stood straight like a pencil. His palms turned in, and as if he was entering a praying position, he brought them together.
WHOOOOOOSH!
It was hard to describe the scene. Damien had trouble pushing his hands together, but every time they inched closer, the air would fluctuate, the sky would tremble, and the atmosphere itself would quiver as if anticipating the force that was to be released.
Even the homunculus started to get desperate.
Its limited intelligence only gave it ways to attack Damien.
But no matter how it tried to attack, it was pushed away by the sheer density of the air around its target.
It couldn't approach.
Its Edict was powerful enough to bend the laws of reality, but it couldn't be used carelessly in the real world.
Therefore, such a power was to be saved until the proper moment.
The homunculus' thought process was not much of a process at all, but its intelligence did open up somewhat when it was put in an impossible situation.
Its goal was unattainable if things continued this way.
How was it to accomplish its goal?
As it searched its mind, it realized that it had to force Damien out of his current state. Otherwise, it would be struck by that dangerous force and decommissioned.
But how could it bring Damien out of that state if it couldn't touch him?
Its first instinct was to attack the space around him.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Its spear struck out countless times, followed by tens of thousands of light beams that streaked through the sky.
The air pressure was blown to pieces by the opposing force, but it returned to its previous density just moments later.
The homunculus could definitely intrude into Damien's space with this method, but it was too inefficient.
Then…
The homunculus didn't understand human emotion.
But it understood patterns.
When it observed the surroundings and noticed how the humans from Void Palace were acting, when it finally noticed the happenings on the ground…
Its thoughts became clear.
If humans stood together, then all it needed to do was give the target a reason to leave his state sooner.
And to do that…
VOOOOOOOOOM!
Damien's awareness picked it up instantly, but he couldn't move to stop it.
The homunculus charged towards the ground. Its body slammed into the earth with such force that the wind tore down nearby structures.
Innocent civilians were torn to shreds, the remnants of their bodies becoming dye that colored the swirling tornado around the creature.
It stood up, its wings flapping lightly.
It turned its head, looking out into the crowd around it.
Whether it was the Void Palace Elders or a random farmer who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
'We're doomed.'
They were not monsters.
They could not stand up against a God.
They'd seen the insane picture of Damien and the homunculus' battle, so they were more than aware of what was about to happen to them.
A spear of light appeared once more in the homunculus' hands.
Its tip widened and expanded until it was practically a lance, the severity of its laws following the same process.
VOOOOOOOOOOM!
Just the sight of the weapon being unveiled was enough to kill.
Hundreds of people in the surroundings found their eyes melting, their bodies doing the same moments later.
"Defend!"
Perseus snapped out of his daze. He was as clear as anyone else on their weakness, but he couldn't stand by in this moment.
Using all his power, he pushed in front of the civilians and citizens of Aeria, roughly pouring mana out to create a shield that defended them.
The other elders immediately followed him without a second thought.
They were proud members of Void Palace.
They would not act shamefully even if these were their final moments.
There was no way for them to know it as they acted, but if they hadn't put up the shield exactly at that moment…
BANG!
In a single instant, the homunculus' spear became a star of its own.
Its light and heat reached an immeasurable level, burning the surrounding ground into ash. The mana holding together the shields around it was burned, to the point where the 12 Elders almost fell instantly.
However, one by one, the remaining Divinities in the crowd emerged to aid them, shouldering a portion of the burden.
The force they were facing was blocked off from the people behind them, but they were forced to deal with the damage personally.
Their skin and flesh burnt, bringing them endless pain, but they didn't regret it.
Their actions were not in vain.
Because if they didn't stand before that light, if it was allowed to reach the general populace who hadn't reached Divinity…
It would have killed several tens of millions of people in that single instant.
What would've happened from that point forth didn't need to be mentioned.
They were content. Now, instead of ending in a massacre, only they would lose their lives.
It was enough.
They made peace with death, but they forgot one thing.
They weren't the only ones fighting.
Holding back the light for that instant was all they needed to do.
Just as they felt their power waning in the face of their opposition…
RUMBLE!
A furious quake spread through the sky.
It had changed color yet again.
It wasn't black. It wasn't red or blue either.
It was a perfect variation of silver-white that it had never been before.
"Huu…"
Damien took a deep breath as he stared at the energy in his palms.
There was only one remaining after all the others had been combined.
It wasn't a completely accurate depiction, but it was close enough.
By utilizing Duality and everything at his disposal…
Damien had created a loophole to access Existence.
'This is what I'm working towards.'
It was his first time seeing it in its full glory.
His body was constantly crumbling under its weight. If it wasn't for the Authority of Immortality, he would've died the instant it was created.
It was amazing that something existed that could kill him so easily, but if there was anything with that kind of power, it was–
'–Existence.'
And with its majesty…
'...I can kill that God.'
