Every statue in the plaza represented an Ancient of the jungle that was drawn to Gehenna at the end of its life.
They had participated in wars and slaughter all their lives, only to realize how pointless their struggles against each other were.
Their true enemy was elsewhere, but by the time they figured out that person's identity, they'd already destroyed themselves.
Gehenna was a cemetery for spirits. For some it was heaven, for some it was hell, and for others it was purgatory.
These ancient spirits experienced something in between.
They had to relive their tragedy over and over again for eons. It started before they entered Gehenna, and when they came here, the realm imitated that reality.
It was punishment for their sins.
However, as Damien finally arrived and participated in the demonstration, finally granting purpose to their endless battle, their punishment ended.
They could now experience the heaven that existed for pure spirits in Gehenna.
That was what Damien granted them, and in return, they gave him their blessing.
Whatever the force that made them repeat their battle was, it gave Damien his lesson on tragedy.
The Ancients, on the other hand, provided something that manifested itself physically.
Damien felt his body change. It was subtle and basically didn't constitute any change at all, but internally, Damien could feel his energy flowing much more smoothly.
He was accepted by a portion of this realm.
And more importantly, with their blessing, he'd be accepted by the Sacred Abyss Universe, allowing him to comprehend its laws.
It was a beautiful gift that gave Damien the chance to do what he'd been trying to do since he got here, an apt gift in return for the freedom he granted them.
The plaza remained unchanged.
'There's nothing else for me to do here.'
Damien gave one last look at the statues before following the trail the mist left him.
Its unusually clean surface was still decorated with the many statues that had always been there.
The strange light that glinted in the eyes of those inanimate beings, the slight hint of sentience that caused one to question the border between reality and illusion, was gone.
'There's nothing else for me to do here.'
Damien gave one last look at the statues before following the trail the mist left him.
He arrived at a new area within five minutes. This time, there was nothing present besides him, and there didn't seem to be anything special in the surroundings.
The mist moved once again.
It rose into the sky and cascaded down as a shower of light. It changed color, mutating the atmosphere until Damien found himself in a white room.
There was a pistol in front of him, a common hot weapon that functioned purely on science that Damien hadn't seen in ages.
Around ten feet away were three people tied to vertical tables like experimental subjects.
One was his mother.
The other was his wife, Rose.
And the last was a stranger.
To his own head was another gun, held by a shadowy black figure who silently urged him to take a decision.
This time, the intent was clear.
Damien immediately picked up the pistol and shot the stranger.
He didn't need to think about which life to take in this situation.
However, the test wasn't what he thought it was.
As the stranger's body jerked, the bullet piercing straight into their skull, Rose's body twisted as well.
Blood leaked from her mouth as she weakly smiled at Damien.
A hole appeared in the center of her head.
The stranger was fine.
The bullet Damien shot flew into Rose's head instead.
It was cruel trickery.
Damien knew this was an illusion.
And he understood what it wanted to say to him.
It was the same as last time. He needed to maintain his calm and assess the situation properly before acting.
He knew that was what he was meant to do.
But he refused.
There was a fine line between calmness and indifference.
Damien knew to be calm in every situation. Despite the rumbling volcano hidden in his heart, he had been moving calmly to solve Void Palace's troubles ever since learning his father's fate, and even before that, he usually approached all situations rationally regardless of whether they included his loved ones or not.
However, this wasn't reality. This was a test.
Damien didn't need to consider outside factors or risks.
He wasn't meant to show what he would do logically.
He was meant to show what he wanted to do, what his desire was in this situation.
'I don't think it knows.'
The force that was testing him didn't know the difference between calmness and indifference.
He would show it exactly what that difference was.
Damien raised his mana.
This was an illusion, so he was allowed to use it as he pleased.
With a single move, he changed the scenario.
The concepts of order and harmony worked together, the laws of space and time worked together, and as the bullet was rewound back to its original trajectory and Rose was brought back from the underworld, reality itself changed so that only the stranger would be struck.
It was a change that was big enough to affect causality but not big enough to completely ruin it.
As such, the punishment Damien would receive for overexerting himself wasn't nearly as pronounced.
Still, Existence didn't allow him to casually wield it.
He was forced into a pain similar yet not to the same extent as what he felt when he killed the homunculus back then.
But that wasn't enough to stop him.
Situations like these were always a two-step process.
Calmness. With it, he could make sure his loved ones were safe and secure without any mistakes.
But it wasn't indifference.
So once their safety was certain and they were in a place where it wouldn't be challenged again…
…Damien was allowed to unleash the fury he kept contained while he saved them.
The power he used was an illusion just like everything else, but the true illusion that contained him shattered the second he unleashed the full extent of his aura.
Damien was returned to the clearing where the mist led him, but he wasn't done yet.
He gathered all his barrakh, along with the rudimentary laws he gained access to after being blessed by the ancient spirits, and slammed his foot into the ground.
BOOOOOOM!
A crater almost a kilometer deep was blown open in the ground. It was evident Damien could've done more, but he held back on purpose.
This was enough to show his intent to those whom it concerned.
He would remain calm when he needed to.
However, he would not throw away the emotions that defined his ego.
He would stay his hand when he could, and he would act subtly when he could, but the second his line was touched…
…no matter who it was or where they were, they would face their retribution.
No exceptions.
Somewhere within Gehenna, a certain being twitched.
For once, it had been acknowledged.
It shivered slightly in excitement.
Meanwhile, the mist opened for Damien, allowing him to continue on his way.
This would be fun.
Finally, someone had come who could sense it.
Finally, it could find joy.
It was good for the being in question, however, it wasn't quite the same for Damien.
One could only wait and see how he dealt with that being's twisted definition of joy.
