Damien hadn't done anything until now. It was only natural for him to fade into the background.
It wasn't like Damien was afraid of the consequences. Despite being surrounded by a force it was impossible for him to beat, he was never afraid of confronting them.
However, he still held his anger back. Even as he saw his mother get injured and lose herself, he held his anger back.
Because he couldn't say for certain whether the others would be safe or not if he decided to directly attack the people around him.
They had him in a precarious situation where they controlled everything.
At least, that was how it started.
The current situation in the field was completely outside of their expectations
None of them showed it, but the instant Grand Duke Famas became just Famas, they'd put their guards up.
There usually weren't so many people this powerful.
In other cosmos, a Grand Duke was an inviolable force. Even if several of their peak Gods appeared at once, they wouldn't be able to stand up to a single Foreign Grand Duke.
The True Void Universe was a completely different ball game.
Serena was already so powerful, but Claire had suddenly achieved a level that even surpassed the Grand Dukes. She was just a step below Unrecorded, at least, by the perception of those who watched her.
For the last scene to appear on the projection to be Claire and Serena fighting while everyone sent by them was dead or dying…
Naturally, the Foreign Nobles felt a certain way about it.
However, they had Damien locked away, and that was their main priority.
The plans Grand Duke Famas made were all thrown out the window.
He'd been given the lead of this entire operation, but look what happened.
He was consumed by his own emotions and died while chasing a dream that was never possible. It could be considered a side effect of his power, but the usually calm Grand Duke was always on the edge of breaking.
That edge just couldn't hold him anymore, and when he saw perfection approaching, he became hasty and lost it all.
The chain of command specified that if Famas went off the rails, Grand Duke Maveth would take control.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})And while he had been silently allowing his comrade to do as he pleased, he was never a fan of the way they were doing things.
Maveth respected the hierarchy established among them. Not because he respected the others at his level, but because it was what the Dark God ordained.
But Famas was gone.
And Maveth had been making preparations for this moment for a very long time.
"Move."
Maveth said only one word, but all of the Foreign Nobles understood what he meant.
There was no need to wait and give Damien more time to think.
There was no need to obsess over those from Void Palace. They'd die when their time came.
Right now, they only had one goal.
To eliminate the anomaly in front of them.
Before Damien could act on his thoughts, the nobles around him attacked.
BOOOOOOOOM!
A huge explosion rang out, causing ripples in the Existence barrier.
Damien had already teleported away.
'I guess there's no need to think more.'
Since it had come to this, then it had come to this.
Damien's thoughts completely cleared out. His entire mind was focused on the current goal, escaping.
Grand Duke Klaus appeared behind him before he knew what was happening, sending a fist into his back.
Damien barely felt it when it was only a few millimeters away. He didn't have time to block or dodge, however…
BOOOOOOOOM!
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The explosive force of the punch shot through the location where Damien was as if he wasn't there.
His body had turned ethereal at the final moment. He just barely managed to keep himself unharmed.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Dukes, Counts, and Viscounts knew they couldn't play a major role in this battle, but that didn't mean they were useless.
Without even caring where Damien actually was, they peppered the sky and ground with attacks to limit the amount of space he had to move around.
'Is that everything?'
Of course it wasn't.
Even more useless numbers were added to the equation, just in case their presence inhibited Damien even a little bit.
The Foreign Vanguard was also present within the hidden principality. The five types of manufactured beasts used by the Foreign Races to invade the world, hundreds of thousands of them swarmed the ground below, creating a dark blanket across the entire hidden principality.
Originally, they'd been brought here for a simple reason. Their presence caused the corruption to spread faster, which worked towards the main goal of the Dark God, conquest.
Now, they'd been repurposed. Not that Damien cared either way.
'There are only three I have to pay attention to.'
The others needed to be kept in mind, but not actively watched.
'And the main goal isn't to win the battle.'
The main goal was to escape and find a way to his mother so he could mediate her current circumstances.
'I don't know what's happening to her, but if Aunt had to fight, then it can't be good. If she's been possessed or something similar, then the concept of order is the perfect solution.'
If his mother had some sort of long-term problem that he didn't know about, then this was his opportunity to help her permanently fix it.
'Okay.'
Damien rapidly turned to the side, narrowly avoiding another projectile.
His own energy blazed outward, pushing away the malakh around him.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})It was not mana, nor was it malakh.
It was a mixture of both, a combination of the two forms of energy used by the conjoined cosmos.
Damien flicked his hand up. The malakh around him halted and turned around, targeting the people who originally brought it into the world.
BOOOOOOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A Viscount died just there, forcing the rest to pull back and focus on hiding while then attacked.
The Dukes pushed forward to protect them, but even they were just at the same level as Damien. He wasn't going to let them outdo him.
His attacks were accurate and formless. He didn't focus on form, instead focusing everything on what went into the attacks.
As such, form-wise, all he released were waves of energy.
However, each wave was equipped with something magical, a mixture of laws unlike what anyone else could create.
Damien whizzed around, and for a second, it looked like he'd be able to turn this situation into something advantageous.
Against the Dukes, Counts, and Viscounts, at least, he could hold his own without a problem.
But even if it was Damien, there were limits.
He wasn't yet at a level where he could avoid them.
With three Grand Dukes, three Supreme Gods trying to kill him…
It would've been strange if Damien could make it out without some suffering.
Grand Duke Maveth stood on the ground, watching as the battle raged on.
And he snapped his finger while Damien was occupied.
He didn't sense the attack, nor did he feel it until it had already happened.
Blood spurted into the air.
This was the start of Damien's torturous attempt to escape.
