War.
It was something Damien had long been used to.
But this was a form he'd never seen it in.
An illusion formed around him. He was encased in its grasp, and his body was changed into another one.
Damien was sent to a place that bore similarity to the Ancient Battlefield, and on it, he was faced with and surrounded by two different armies.
One was made up of dragons of all kinds. This was the group he was with.
As for the enemies, they were a variety of mythical creatures including qilins, dryads, and everything in between.
They oozed an aura of malevolence, a clear indication of their hatred for the dragons.
And the dragons were filled with absolute pride, believing themselves unshakable.
The war began before Damien had a chance to fully understand the situation.
Both sides charged at each other, and deaths immediately appeared on both sides.
'Ah…'
Standing in the middle of it all, Damien suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his heart.
He watched a dragon fall.
He remembered that dragon's name.
And he felt the anguish of losing a good friend.
His eyes turned red with fury.
Not taking a single second to think, he joined his fellows in battle, killing the enemy he didn't even know the identity of.
And he killed.
His claws which were once only used to calmly trek the earth became weapons that carried the blood of hundreds.
His maw, only ever used to eat and speak, had been wetted with the taste of iron, a disgusting taste that easily became addicting.
He was truly a powerhouse.
He had never killed before, but when he was taken to the battlefield, his true purpose in life was revealed to all.
Yet, with every dragon that fell, the rage he felt was deepened.
He had a personal feud with the enemy side now, unable to recognize himself within the beast he was possessing.
But it didn't matter what he did. He was only a single dragon, recklessly charging in without a plan.
He could kill as many enemies as he wanted, but his comrades would continue dying.
As they did.
The dragons who once thought themselves invincible were felled one after another. As they continued to fight, they didn't realize how their numbers had diminished.
Damien wasn't aware of it either.
His boiling rage was the only thing defining him. Under its guidance, he killed his way all the way through the enemy line, coming out the other side with not a single being in front of him.
Only then did his eyes return to normal.
Only then did he realize he was the only one left.
'This…'
How long had it been?
The battlefield was long gone.
His young body which had never tasted war was now built for it, covered in scars and wounds from previous battles.
He was no longer just a youthful dragon. He was old, nearing the end of his life, and yet, his rage had only just faded.
How long did he spend drowned in his emotions?
Even he couldn't tell, but from the signs in his body and mind, he had been on a blind path of revenge for at least several tens of thousands of years already.'
His eyes panned his surroundings, clearly showing his confusion.
He was surrounded, the beasts from the statues preparing to end the Dragon Race's legacy through him.
He had been trapped in a cage of his own making, and while he ran around in its confines none the wiser, his enemies took ownership of it and truly left him without a chance to escape.
If he had just moved wisely…
If he had rallied his comrades and worked together…
Would the dragons have fallen?
They were noble creatures above any of the others here.
But because of their pride, because of their arrogance, and because of their impatience, he was the only one remaining.
A single black dragon with burning red eyes, a physical reminder of his futile rage.
That futile rage which became the very reason for his demise and the extinction of the Dragon Race.
The scene paused.
"Haa…haa…haa…"
Only Damien's rough breathing remained, all other sound banished from existence.
He looked around at the scene of slaughter around him.
'The message you're trying to show me…'
As he came to himself and thought about what had just happened, his true intelligence allowed him to realize what the purpose of this place was.
"...I will always remember it."
Tragedy was one of the most ancient concepts.
Whether it be the beings who existed at the very beginning of time or those who would come to exist far in the future, everyone would experience tragedy the same.
Damien was not an exception to this rule.
He'd lived a fortunate life. Despite his struggles, he always managed to gain the power to overcome them mentally and physically.
But he would also experience tragedy, and he had to accept the concept's permanence.
That was the reason he was made to experience this war.
So he would reaffirm himself and not lose himself when the time came.
The power Damien was coming into was too immense for his emotions to fluctuate heavily.
Once he truly become one with Existence and surpassed it, Existence would move with the slightest change in his demeanor whether he liked it or not.
It was a war Damien watched and participated in, brutal and filled with split-second decisions that sometimes had to be brash and erratic.
It was in that atmosphere that he learned the true consequences of failing to control his emotions.
He had to keep himself stable.
No matter what happened to him, no matter what he experienced, he couldn't fold under pressure.
Calmness.
It was a war Damien watched and participated in, brutal and filled with split-second decisions that sometimes had to be brash and erratic.
It was in that atmosphere that he learned the true consequences of failing to control his emotions.
And as he came out of it, he now understood more deeply than ever the importance of reigning over them.
Damien was usually confident in doing so, but he'd been wavering recently.
It was naturally because of his father.
He knew Dante was in a bad situation from a long time ago, but realizing how dire it was agitated him greatly.
He'd been going through the motions, living life in such a way that the Saintess was easily able to manipulate his perception.
He couldn't do that anymore.
No matter what happened outside, no matter what he saw when he left this place, he had to remain calm.
That was the lesson he internalized.
And as he did, the purpose of this battlefield vanished.
The great beings surrounding him began to fade, their expressions now changed into warm smiles, visible even on their gnarled beastly faces.
They may have been enemies on the battlefield, but it had been a very, very long time since that battle ended.
They no longer felt the hot-blooded emotion that forced them apart in the first place.
Now, their role here had been fulfilled.
Which meant they could finally return to rest.
They were tired of reenacting this same moment from the past over and over again. They were forced to do so because they could not satisfy the purpose their war was intended for.
Damien's arrival changed that.
They were finally free to enjoy the peace of Gehenna as they lived out the remainder of eternity.
And Damien was also free.
The mist opened a path for him when the ancient spirits departed.
It was time for him to see what else this place had in store.
