Months continued to pass. It was far less time in the Heavenly World, but that didn't change how long it had been in the Sacred Abyss Universe.
It would've been strange if Damien had been able to go untouched for all of this time. Perhaps it was normal for a few months, but after a while, it became a question why the Foreign Nobles kept chasing him so aimlessly.
Well, it was because their chase wasn't aimless.
Damien had been caught quite a few times, and while he did manage to cause some injuries, he never actually managed to kill anyone above the Count level.
He was always quick on the escape, just like when they'd first met him.
In the end, it became obvious that they couldn't catch him through normal means, but until Maveth and the others who stood on the back line finished creating a way to properly trap him, they still needed to chase, so that he would never lose the sense of danger around him.
If he put his guard down for just a moment, if the stress got to him and he snapped…
They would immediately make sure he became their prey.
Definitively this time.
Damien was quite aware of their plans. Though they didn't broadcast them to everyone, the Counts he devoured still had some tidbits of information about what was happening in the world.
It was good they thought the way they did.
'It means they're acting exactly according to plan.'
Was Damien unable to kill a Duke?
Obviously not.
Was he unable to do it fast enough?
Perhaps when he fought Horacio, but now…?
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Damien had comprehended the concept of chaos when he tried to control the absolute chaos that raged around him when he was trying to save his mother.
That concept was just as offensive as domination, having a far more direct impact on his combat power than something like order or harmony.
Damien didn't quite know how strong he'd gotten. Just like every other time, it was a vague feeling that he couldn't define without fighting.
But now wasn't the time.
There were five gems in the Emperor's Crown. Only one short of completion.
Theoretically speaking, a Duke wasn't Damien's enemy anymore.
However, he couldn't test that, because he couldn't let them know that he'd gotten stronger.
'I may be able to fight a Supreme God properly now, but I'll for sure be at a disadvantage.'
He definitely wasn't at the level of those who had been Supremes for millennia yet. But if it was a recent Supreme…Damien didn't think he would lose easily.
'That doesn't mean I'll be reckless, though.'
He needed to make the Foreign Nobles underestimate him as much as possible. Convincing most of them was easy, but his main target, Grand Duke Maveth, was not.
Maveth was calculating beyond any of the others. Damien truly had to put on a show to convince him that he wasn't strong enough to fight, especially after what he'd pulled in the hidden Principality.
That was why Damien got rid of all of the Barons, Viscounts, and Counts within his first year of being here.
Most of that time was spent traveling, and more importantly, claiming the territories left behind by those he slaughtered.
Damien had a considerable claim to this world now, though he didn't know what it meant for him to possess it.
However, he would have ample time to figure it out.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})There was no way to convince Maveth that Damien was completely powerless.
For that reason, Damien chose a different approach.
'To make him believe my power is specialized in the wrong places.'
Concealment, defense, and escape. If Maveth was absolutely certain that Damien was strong in these aspect and weak in others, then he would move in a way that Damien was more than prepared to exploit.
He'd already convinced the man of his power to run away. The fact that he was still alive after the torture he'd been put through when they fought was enough proof of his defense.
Now, all he needed to do was put the icing on the cake.
There were only 15 Dukes and 3 Grand Dukes remaining, which made it a lot easier for Damien.
His next trick…
'...is to disappear.'
Damien gathered his mana, converting it all to malakh.
He phased through the world, appearing and disappearing from countless points across the land simultaneously, making it impossible to see where he actually was.
His body began to change, becoming exactly like a Foreign Race. His soul changed, mimicking what he'd seen in people like the Saintess and Thalia.
His Legend hid itself deep, almost sinking into Nonexistence.
And the entity known as Damien Void was completely eliminated from this plane, replaced by someone completely different, someone who wasn't anomalous.
The instant Damien's transformation finished, he promptly vanished. He didn't use Warp or any other space-twisting movement techniques. He traveled directly through Existence itself, making it impossible for his enemies to track him.
He arrived at a city within a random territory of the ones that belonged to him. At that moment, the "Damiens" warping through the sky vanished all at once.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})He had effectively been removed from all forms of detection.
The main problem was his status as an anomaly. Through it, the Nobles could find him whenever they wanted. They were quite literally bred with the skills to track anomalies.
However, gaining chaos gave Damien a way to cut them off.
Just a slight bit of chaos in his soul, just enough to scramble his readings but not enough to make him feel like an imposter, went a long way.
The anomalous nature of his soul could now be hidden under a veil of "talent." And when that was taken care of, Damien's preexisting abilities were more than enough to make him invisible.
'Good. I now have freedom.'
Damien nodded to himself, walking through the city and blending in with the local population.
'I've left enough clues and I'll keep leaving more, so I can be sure they won't go looking for trouble in the Heavenly World.'
And while he led his enemies by the nose, he could take a second to see what society was really like in this world.
It was a place he didn't know, and observing the common people would always bring him unexpected boons.
'We say the Dark God is an evil person, but is that really true?'
What was he like at his core?
What was he like to his own people?
These were all curiosities Damien held in his heart.
The dilation of the Sacred Abyss Universe gave Damien a surprising amount of time to use freely. Even if he spent a year here, no more than a month or two would pass in the Heavenly World. That is, if he watched the timeflow and stayed in locations where the dilation was stable.
He could even make the dilation more pronounced to give himself more time.
So while he waited for the moment to come for him to initiate the next step of his plans…
Wasn't this the perfect time to explore the things that set the Sacred Abyss Universe apart from the rest?
