A lot happened in the coming months.
Damien returned to his daily life in the Young Lord's residence. With the most important task completed, he had time to spend on the back line overseeing everything.
But mainly, he used this time to spend with his family.
It had been a long time since he'd had quality time with his wives. It wasn't just because he was busy outside, but because they'd been fully immersed in training.
The Heavenly World was a dangerous place, especially for the weak.
They were powerful back when they were in Grand Heavens Boundary, but unlike Damien, they experienced what it was really like for an ascender.
Adapting to the laws of this world was difficult. They were far denser, and every concept they had come to know was now far more complex than ever before.
To understand these laws meant to gain true power, but it was a time-consuming task.
Especially for people who'd only recently become Demigods.
That critical benchmark was reached not long after they arrived in this world. They already had the foundation, and if it wasn't for the speed of the events that passed since the war against the Nox ended, they would've ascended long before Damien returned to take them to the Heavenly World.
Establishing their Divinities was a job Rose, Ruyue, and Elena didn't have any trouble with.
Again, unlike Damien, they were absolutely certain of the paths they'd decided to tread.
They didn't have the vagueness of the Void and Existence clouding their vision.
Plus, with Iris' help and information about her experience with Divinity, they were able to rapidly grasp the concept.
Rose's Divinity was called True Fantasy. It reflected her desire to turn her imagination into true reality, her ability to create illusions beyond illusion.
Ruyue, on the other hand, gained something called Absolute Yin, which furthered her ability to control all yin-related laws and concepts.
Finally, Elena trod the same path she found in the Holy Light Realm. Her Divinity was called Transcended Death. It was her true start on the road she'd chosen.
Once these Divinities were established, it was all just a matter of perfecting them.
And that was exactly what they spent their time on.
For as long as they'd been here, they'd remained in meditation.
Of course, they occasionally took breaks to rest their minds and become familiar with the people in the palace, but their hard work was their main focus.
They excelled in comprehension more and more as they continued trying, and as they made progress, they got somewhat addicted to the feeling.
It was normal, and it wasn't problematic.
But it did make them somewhat unavailable.
The people of the palace had a good impression of them. They were beautiful, had the poise to be the wives of their Young Lord, and showed a work ethic beyond even their most hard-working members.
It was just a shame that they couldn't make any real connections outside of Claire and Serena due to their schedules.
That problem was solved when Damien returned.
They took a break to match his break. With the group of them spending more time together relaxing and enjoying each other's presences, others were also able to see more of the Mistresses they had to respect on the same level as their Young Lord.
The atmosphere within the palace was quite harmonious.
To the point where one could easily forget what was going on outside.
But, naturally, Damien paid close attention to it. Even if he was taking some time off, he couldn't completely separate himself from work.
'The Straea Clan is acting strangely.'
By this point, Straea should've already made several moves to strike back at the palace. Damien had accounted for their movements and made several plans to counter them.
However, the Straea Clan was not fighting back.
Instead, they huddled up and stayed within the Northern Region.
'This isn't how they're supposed to be.'
The Straea Clan was arrogant and domineering. That was the image they'd built up over all these years.
For them to act like cowards…
'...they're planning something big.'
Damien sighed.
It wasn't something he could predict. He could only try to be prepared for any situation, so they couldn't catch him off-guard and ruin everything he'd built up.
And while he did so, he needed to focus more on the operation against the Divine Order.
That, unlike the matters of the Straea Clan, was going quite smoothly.
How could it not?
The assault was perfectly planned so the Divine Order would be destroyed without any hope of survival.
Dominic and Yiren led the troops on the frontline of that battlefield, while Hestia helped them from the palace with information and strategies.
Veritas helped them with the war effort, and the two great clans working together, the Divine Order's power was weakened and crippled.
That was the combat side of things.
The Divine Order's Council of Gods acted a few times, but after losing several Gods to the enemy, they chose to hide away rather than fight.
And that gave Void Palace and Veritas the freedom they needed to systematically destroy the order.
Amidst all of this, one couldn't forget the Holy Empire.
City after city, town after town, the people of the Southwestern Region were liberated from their brainwashing.
They didn't know about it either.
They went about their days as normal, unaware that anything about their fundamental thinking capabilities had changed.
But they had.
The Divine Order lost control over their people, which meant they lost the cannon fodder they could use to stop their enemies' advance.
Those people were still believers of the order. That part didn't change. However, they could no longer be forced to do things against their will.
They'd regained the freedom of thought.
Which meant they could fully absorb the situation around them and understand what was happening.
It was a fearful and confusing time for those who were freed, but the Holy Empire wasn't just present to free them. They provided aid and care to make the transition as smooth as possible.
And because the Holy Empire itself was a religious order, they were able to use the faith those people held to help them.
It was a perfect operation in every way.
And because of that, the Divine Order was forced into an extreme position.
If they wanted to survive through this, they had to find a way to escape the Southwestern Region.
"They" being the highest level of the order.
The rest had been abandoned.
And since the rest had been abandoned…
Naturally, they had to be used.
Damien forgot about one thing.
When an insane enemy was forced into a corner…
Nobody could judge what they'd do next.
Especially when it was the Divine Order, an influence that was always forced to be suppressed and controlled by those greater than it.
The Council of Gods held one more meeting.
It wasn't much of a meeting at all.
It was merely a time for them to make sure they were all on the same page.
They would make it out of this mess alive.
Even if they had to bring the world down to do so.
