It couldn't be overstated how little Damien understood his own power.
He'd been comprehending Existence concept by concept, and his general understanding of it was spectacular. If one asked him to showcase the concepts of Existence themselves, he could show them something wondrous. However, ironically enough, Damien, who valued freedom so much, was restricted in thought.
He simply could not foster an imagination wide enough to experience the full brevity of Existence.
Of course, Damien never stopped trying. His recent curiosity towards the different paths of life and the ways humans could change was related to his desire to expand his mentality.
His efforts were applaudable, but they just weren't enough. At least in terms of usages of his power in battle, it was impossible for Damien to understand them until he found himself in that precarious situation.
No matter how powerful he became, the fundamental rule of practitioners didn't change. Practical experience was always the most valuable.
Right now, Damien was experiencing something preposterous.
His pain had been amplified by over a million times as Maveth continued to attack him. That wasn't just the pain of a paper cut. The base force was already Godly strength. His body was in the process of being decimated.
It kept regenerating, somehow faster than Klaus and Lance could attack. Damien never truly died no matter how many times his heart and head exploded.
It was a troubling matter for his enemies, but what was it like for him?
Frankly, he couldn't even feel his body anymore.
When the pain reached a certain point, it just became numb. There was only a certain level that even Damien's evolved physique could handle.
And rather than inhibiting him, that numbness helped Damien. He, who had kept his rationality throughout it all, was suddenly given the freedom to act on that rationality. The pain wasn't shattering his thoughts anymore.
And that was when he realized it.
Wasn't pain just a concept...?
Wasn't everything around him just...
Mana, malakh, energy...
Humans, Foreign Races, living beings...
The earth, the winds, the heavens...
...wasn't it all just a bundle of forces under his control?
Wasn't reality something he could toy with as he saw fit?
It was hard for Damien to not underestimate himself.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})He was incomprehensible, but he still judged himself by the standards others had set for this world.
It was normal, wasn't it?
That was exactly the problem.
Damien was not normal.
And perhaps...his failure to throw away all convention was the exact thing holding him back from his full potential. He had to realize at some point.
He was the one who would rule the world.
He was the person aiming to be Absolute.
The arrogance he thought he was suppressing was not arrogance, but confidence with obvious backing. He did not need to suppress himself and be humble, because if he really held all of that back, he would never think he had the capability to do things he actually could do easily.
A switch clicked in his mind.
All of the habits he'd drilled into himself to keep himself humble and aware of all possibilities were thrown away. Everything that could possibly limit him was forced back. He had a goal he needed to accomplish.
He had people he needed to save.
And he absolutely could not fall here.
'All of it...'
Damien's eyes flashed open.
'I want all of it gone!
VOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive pulse of energy was released from his body. Everything went dead silent, as if all the sound in the surroundings had been swallowed up.
Malakh and mana, both were different forms of the same thing, and at the end of the day, both were energies that could only make up a fraction of Void Energy.
Damien's formless aura enveloped the entirety of the hidden Principality.
It had to be remembered that Existence was only half of what Damien needed. The main energy he used, the main power he chased, was not Existence alone.
Before his chaotic yet absolutely pure energy, both mana and malakh were forced to kneel.
All of the energy in the vicinity settled and dispersed.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})In that moment of silence, Damien looked at Grand Dukes Maveth, Klaus, and Lance.
He looked at the Existence barrier that he once saw and believed to be greater than him.
'None of this matters!
None of it was real.
No danger could affect him.
'If I want to leave...'
Damien pushed his hand out. He allowed his mana to flow however it wanted to, uncaring of everything else around him.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sound of explosions. It was muffled to the point where it was hardly audible.
The three Grand Dukes and their Noble lackeys continued to attack as they saw something strange happening around Damien. They weren't just going to sit back and allow him to do whatever he pleased.
However, there was a barrier around him.
A barrier of Existence.
After being trapped inside of one for so long, it would've been strange if Damien didn't learn how to recreate it for himself, right?
Whether it was force control or physical strength, malakh or mana, nothing could get through to the current Damien. The pain in his body vanished.
His arms and legs grew back, and his organs returned to their normal positions as his chest returned to its regular position.
...nobody can stop me!'
Nothing could hold him. Not even Existence itself.
VOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Another huge pulse of energy ripped through the air.
The Grand Dukes were thrown back, while the Dukes and those beneath them found their malakh incapable of functioning.
A bright white light covered Damien's body, growing and growing until it was brighter than a supernova.
Light clashed against barrier, Existence clashed against Existence. The entire hidden Principality fiercely shook as it seemed like the cave could collapse at any time.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Crack!
It was a subtle sound that only Damien heard.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
It repeated itself as a small crack turned big, expanding across a large surface.
And eventually, when the cracks added up...
CRASH!
The entire structure collapsed.
BOOOOOO0000000000OOM!
It came out of nowhere. The second the Existence barrier disappeared, all of the force it had absorbed was spread back into the environment. The entire hidden Principality was bombarded by its weight.
The Grand Dukes were forced to go on the defensive, and together with the Dukes, they provided cover for their entire group of over a hundred.
The Vanguards, on the other hand, weren't so lucky.
Hundreds of thousands became none as rampant energy and falling rocks claimed the lives of every artificially engineered soldier.
Chaos ensued in full, not giving anyone present time to do anything but survive.
But Damien...
He was not a part of that group.
The instant the barrier was destroyed under the weight of his partially completed Void Energy, he had disappeared millions of kilometers into the distance.
Only the Foreign Nobility were left to deal with the aftermath.
No words were exchanged. However, the intents of all involved parties were transmitted clearly.
The rage, humiliation, and annoyance of the Foreign Nobility...and the clear sentiment Damien left when he escaped.bender
This time, they'd won.
However, if he ever met them again...
He would make sure to finish what they'd started.
