'Okay.'
Damien calmed his racing heart and mind.
Things were only bleak if he let them be that way. For now, there was nothing to worry about.
'First off…'
He looked around.
'...why do I always land in forests at times like these?'
Perhaps it was because forested environments were more than just common in the Heavenly World, but that was beside the point.
Damien felt the air and the energy around him to try and gauge his position, but for some reason, he couldn't seem to feel any familiarity.
'This is absolutely the Heavenly World, but nothing about it resembles the Heavenly World I know. This mana is…regal? It feels like this land was made exclusively for royalty.'
Damien frowned. He was quite familiar with the Heavenly World by now. Even if he was in a location he'd never seen, he would usually be able to judge where he was in the world by the atmosphere, aura, and memories of the earth.
The atmosphere only clued that this was indeed a place where mana was the energy source.
As for the memories of the earth…
'How could there possibly be an area millions of kilometers wide that hasn't ever been touched by the foot of a living being?'
Damien's arrival was quite literally the first time any living presence had ever stepped foot here. It was eerily impossible for something like this to happen.
'But if it's the Heavenly World, then there has to be civilization somewhere.'
Damien immediately teleported away from his previous position.
He didn't necessarily pick a direction, but he moved through the spatial layers and continued spreading his awareness, only stopping when he found signs of life in the vicinity.
'Let's find out where I am. Once I'm situated, the first priority is to spread the word about what happened.'
It was only right to let others know. He couldn't train the entire world on his own.
There was one big problem keeping him from doing so immediately.
'My connection to the Sanctuary has been…altered.'
He couldn't enter that place anymore.
He didn't think anyone else's connection with the Sanctuary was touched. Despite being unable to enter, he could still feel that he was its rightful owner and the one who controlled its laws.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})It was as if the Dark God purposefully gave Damien a handicap, taking away the one thing that made it absolutely impossible for him to die before escaping.
'I'm really all-in.'
There was no going back now.
'Then…'
First, to find where he was. Second, to find a way to inform the palace about what had happened, and third…
'Well, we'll figure that out later.'
Damien cut his thoughts short as he saw light ahead.
'A city?'
If so, it was perfect.
Damien got there within half a second, and as he gazed at the scene below, he saw a sprawling area that was home to several billions of people.
'How the hell did I miss this before?'
It was larger than many of the hub cities in the Heavenly World, and it was filled to the brim with people of all shapes and sizes.
Some were over ten feet tall, wider than a pickup truck.
Others were small and seemingly fragile, but still emanating a great amount of vitality.
If there was one thing they all had in common…
'Scales.'
Somewhere on their bodies, all of them had scales of a variety Damien knew well.
'Are tbh dragonkin?'
If so…
'Is this the Western Region?'
The only place in the Heavenly World where he hasn't been,
'Is this Arulion?'
Arulion, the Kingdom of Dragons. Damien had heard of it from the Ice Luan hybrid, Katya, when he was looking for the Harmony Fruit, but he never thought he'd see this place so soon.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})'According to her, you need dragon lineage to enter this place. I don't have a bloodline core anymore, so I don't really qualify, but…I guess being randomly transported by the force of both Existence and Nonexistence is a good way to avoid those types of rules.'
Damien was pretty sure of his guess, but before he completely accepted it, he had to check.
'Not having to kill people to read Existence is a huge convenience.'
If it was a mortal or someone near that level, Damien's interference would go completely unnoticed and would leave no lasting effects on their souls.
He landed on the street and fluidly transformed his body based on the characteristics of those around him.
His arm brushed against a random passerby, and then another, and then another.
These people were all under the level of Divinity, and as Damien made contact, he saw everything they'd done with their lives and learned everything they learned.
There wasn't much a lower existence could teach him, but if it was knowledge about this place…?
'So I was right.'
He was indeed in Arulion. This was the hidden world of the dragons, the space within the illusions that made up the exterior borders of the Western Region.
'...'
Damien took a second to think.
'Should I warp?'
If he wanted to go home, then warping was the right answer.
'But will I be able to return here if I do?'
"No" seemed like the right answer, but considering how well Damien could disguise himself, even he didn't believe it was true.
Damien sighed to himself.
He wanted to continue this adventure, but it could definitely wait. No matter how hypocritical it sounded, there was still a limit to his selfishness.
'It won't take too long.'
He already had everything planned out. It was just a matter of execution.
'Plus, now that I've been here and can get back, it's not a bad idea to try and get the Dragon Clan on my side.'
They would be a great help in the war, regardless of what their true strength was.
Nevertheless, after marking his position, Damien quietly disappeared from the crowd, leaving none aware of his presence.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})He arrived back at the palace, but it was different from the one he left.
For one, his wives were no longer present. Each of them had gone on their own adventures, so he had returned to an empty house.
His mother and the rest, however, were still running the ship as smoothly as always.
She and Serena had more severe reactions to his return than anyone else.
"My son!"
Claire exclaimed the instant she saw him, rushing over and pulling him into her embrace.
"How could you disappear so suddenly? Did you know how worried I was?!"
She was both relieved to see him and admonishing him for his recklessness. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to discipline him or forgive him.
Damien quietly accepted it all.
This…
'This is a new feeling.'
Motherly love.
His childhood was filled with it, but it had been several decades since the last time he'd felt this emotion so strongly.
Serena was the same. She stood by Claire's side and scolded Damien where she couldn't, properly acting like a second mom to him.
It really was wholesome, and Damien appreciated it hugely.
Still, he returned with daunting information, and they probably wouldn't look at him the same after he told them what he'd done.
"Mom…"
His voice was quiet, but still loud enough for both Claire and Serena to here.
"...I did something big."
Was he supposed to call it a mistake? It wasn't one. He'd done it entirely on purpose. Was he supposed to say it was a bad decision? In his eyes, this was a decision that would only result in benefits in the long term.
He didn't know how to broach the subject, but he decided to just tell the complete truth and let them judge him afterwards.
That was the moment this impending war became real.
And Claire's reaction…
