?Damien's calmness left him the instant he returned to the real world.
Even he didn't realize it was a product of the Existence Mana.
His brain didn't have nearly enough power to behold the Existence Mana, let alone the ability to function while enduring it.
Information rushed into his head in droves beyond droves.
Everything that happened finally became real to him.
The processes that had to take place for his desire to be carried out were burned into his mind, almost shattering it with ease.
And his mind wasn't the only thing affected.
His body practically turned into ash once and for all.
In the eyes of everyone else when time resumed, Damien didn't exist at all.
It was as if everything returned to normal. The only clue to the fact that the events they experienced were real was their position and memory.
Damien was completely gone, but, in fact, he was right in the middle of them all.
His body couldn't bear the force of Existence in the slightest. It was already gone, down to the last drop of blood.
However, Damien wasn't dead yet.
His Authority of Immortality allowed him to live under the complete destruction of his physical vessel. It could even rebuild that vessel, given some time.
He was currently existing in soul form, in a plane nobody could sense, enduring pain beyond belief.
Since his body couldn't take the agony, his soul had to bear it all.
Damien gritted his metaphysical teeth and endured it.
It felt like he was being stabbed by ten thousand swords, burned by the brightest flame, frozen to death, poisoned, drowned, and slammed against the ground at 100 miles per hour, all at the same time.
Unbearable wasn't even enough of a word.
Existence was far beyond his capabilities. The loophole he'd created allowed him to use a mockery of its mana, but he wasn't free from the consequences of acting outside his bounds.
There was nothing he could do. His soul wasn't capable of screaming or writhing to ease the pain, so he could only sit there and agonize silently.
The days went by. The people left the battlefield to rebuild their homes, but when they returned, they realized that everything was in peak condition.
Nobody saw their savior. They didn't know what happened, but they remembered the star in the sky that was fighting the homunculus.
So, under the leadership of the 12 Elders and the leaders of Aeria who protected the citizens from the light, they gathered what they could find of the dead and held funerals.
Their next move was more militant.
Regardless of the unexplainable events that took place, freeing them from the curse of the Divine Order's presence, they were still at war.
Since they had been graced with time, they entered a period of fortifying.
To make sure the Aeria Principality wouldn't fall again, they reinforced their defenses and truly created an army that would become famous throughout the lands for its accomplishments.
But that was a story for another time.
Damien's torture lasted for three days before his body finally built itself back up.
'Pain is power is really a life-saving mentality.'
He sighed to himself, happy to finally have a mouth back, and flew into the sky, concealing his presence.
'I did something crazy without realizing it.'
His actions weren't ideal in the slightest. If the Divine Order had even a little bit of intelligence, they'd definitely be on guard after something like this.
Not only did one of their homunculi die, but it died in a strange way in a place where it never should've died.
'I've put myself on a timer.'
If the Divine Order started seriously considering Void Palace as an enemy, they'd have no choice but to cut their plans short and fight a war.
'I have to find the 2 Swords who disappeared in the next 15 days.'
Damien had to teleport to Aeria without the help of teleportation arrays. He did so mostly because he wanted to give the people in the main palace more time to grow, but it was also because he had to hide his identity.
He couldn't be someone who had enough wealth to travel all the way to Aeria from the vicinity of the main palace in one go.
Nevertheless, because of that, it had been 10 days since he left, which meant a total of 20 years had passed in the barrier.
It wasn't much time at all.
'I want to buy them at least a few more decades. Even if I've given them a method to speedrun Divinity, they still need around 50 years.'
He was already doubting if they could truly do it, but if they didn't even have enough time to try, what was the point?
'Let's finish up quick and go back. I don't have time to sit around.'
Damien glanced down at the Aeria Principality.
His mana leaked out, creating twelve envelopes, which each drifted to a Void Palace Elder.
It was an immediate summons to the main palace. They also mentioned that Aeria's development would be properly managed by the palace so they could leave without worries.
Since the problems were over, Damien left immediately.
His next destination was deeper into Divine Order territory.
'It was a pain in the ass to digest through the pain, but I managed to learn a lot from the homunculus' soul.'
From the deepest schemes of the order to the most general information he needed to know, it was all present.
Nobody held their tongues around lifeless dolls, so the amount of information the homunculus had stored in its existence was actually mind-boggling.
Not only did Damien get a clue as to where he needed to go to find the missing Swords, but…
'...with this, I think I can find a way to save other homunculi when I meet them.'
The prospects were limitless.
'But I'll have to save most of those ideas for later. Right now, I need to find them.'
The two Swords who disappeared weren't just common characters.
No, they were the leader of Void Palace's information division and one of their strongest swordsmen.
Their power was absolutely necessary.
'But…'
Damien frowned.
'...I'll hope for the best.'
There was something specific he learned from the homunculus' memories.
One specific fact that Damien didn't want to acknowledge but was forced to stomach.
If it was really as they said…
"Haa…"
He didn't even want to think about it.
He had to go regardless, and he had to find out for himself.
As Damien set out for the Southwestern Region, he left behind many things in the south.
Most of those things were already known, but he didn't realize what he'd created in Aeria.
He didn't understand what kind of scene he caused.
The Aerian people didn't just build fortification structures and weapons during this time of preparation.
They built a massive statue, visible from several dozens of kilometers away even by mortals.
It was a picture of the homunculus that terrified and almost slaughtered them, with its heart being carved out by a man covered in stars.
This was the beginning of Damien's second legend in the Heavenly World.
The Legend of the God of War.
