For mortals, 3 meters wasn't too short of a distance, but it wasn't too long either. Being able to teleport that far instantaneously would be incredibly convenient, if nothing else.
However, at Damien's level, it was different. For people like them, 3 meters was a distance that could be crossed in half a step. Due to this, his current limiter on teleportation was incredibly strenuous.
But that didn't mean it didn't have benefits. If it didn't, then Damien wouldn't have been abusing it all this time, opting to simply run instead.
Firstly, he was able to spam teleport much faster than he was able to take two steps. The reaction of his body when it came to teleporting was much more fluid for some reason.
Secondly, his maneuverability. Momentum was always something that needed to be taken into consideration when in battle. If Damien wanted to abruptly switch directions, he had to divert the force he had accumulated if he didn't want to snap his body.
Of course, vector control could be used to offset some of the momentum and make him far more agile than the normal person, but even then it was a conscious process he had to consider and calculate. It took precious time to do so.
But with teleportation, he didn't have the same issue.
He could change both direction, orientation, and position at will combined with the fact that his momentum could be carried over when he did so instead of halting like it would if he moved normally, it made him far more versatile on the battlefield.
It was also the main reason he could perfectly escape the Demon Queen's chase in this confined space.
She didn't have the same ability, but she was fast. Even if her abilities weren't geared towards speed, her natural ability due to her class level was far greater than anything Damien could achieve even with the stat boosts he had received from all the devouring he had done.
When Damien teleported away, she was able to reach him before he even finished materializing in the real world again. If it wasn't for his maneuverability, he felt her claws would've pierced his chest numerous times already.
As for the other demons who were chasing him, he didn't even put them in his eyes. Both he and the Demon Queen were moving too fast for them to even have a chance to catch up.
'I can't keep going like this.'
Damien thought as his eyes darted around. His awareness was spread to its limits for the sake of his teleportation, while his eyes were constantly scanning the surrounding barrier to try and find an opening.
Although he had plenty of mana capacity and mental strength, he knew he couldn't delay here for too long. There were two other Demon Kings as well as a legion of Apostles not far from his location, and he needed to be out of the mountain before they could converge.
If things reached that point, he'd have no choice but to hide in the Sanctuary without leaving enemy territory. And he didn't want to take that risk.
Boom!
Waves of demonic mana were emanating through the fourth layer as the hundreds of demons chasing Damien channeled their skills and spells and shot them at him full force.
The Demon Queen also wasn't sitting still while chasing him. Although he had managed to escape her charm, her mental strength was obviously far greater than his.
As she pursued him relentlessly and barraged him with physical attacks, waves of elusive mana impacted his mind, trying to foil his concentration.
Damien didn't allow any of this to get to him. His vector field was fully erected and in use, actively repelling all energy-based attacks that arrived in his vicinity. The magnitude and power of these attacks had been greatly increased when they returned to their original senders, causing large explosions to ring out through the fourth layer.
He couldn't block the mental attack, so he allowed his Mind Prison to do the work for him, offsetting a majority of its impact.
Still, a portion of it would always make it through his defenses. Although it wasn't much one at a time, he knew it'd have a dangerous impact on him once it accumulated.
Swathes of demons were dying left and right, but their numbers didn't seem to decrease at all. In fact, more and more demons poured into the area as time passed.
Suddenly, two familiar auras entered his detection range. When he concentrated his awareness, he noticed Feng Qing'er and Qing Tan dazedly watching his antics as he fled from the pursuit of the surrounding demons.
He suddenly had an idea.
"You two! It's been so long! How have you been?"
Bang!
The Demon Queen's axe kick landed where his head was, but he was already 3 meters behind her.
"Damien~!" Qing Tan responded smilingly. "You seem to be having a lot of fun!"
"Hahaha! I guess you could call it that. Anyway, Qing Tan, Qing'er, I need a favor!"
"Don't call me so familiarly!" Feng Qing'er shouted.
"Oi! Your name is three syllables long! That's too long to shout in a situation like this! It's for convenience sake, okay?"
"Hmph!"
"What'd you need help with?" Qing Tan butted in before Feng Qing'er could continue.
Boom!
A burst of demonic mana covered a large area around Damien, making it so that even if he teleported, he wouldn't reach safety.
A large number of demons were caught up in the blast, instantly shriveling up into dry corpses. Damien immediately mobilized his vector field and warded off the foreign mana, manipulating the directional force to shoot it back into the surroundings to kill more demons.
"Hmm, what's the best way to put this? Ah, I got it! Qing Tan, raise hell!"
Qing Tan smiled cheerfully and clapped her hands. "This is why I like you so much! You know how to have fun!"
Qing Tan walked into the barrier unimpeded and spread her aura, causing the darkness beneath her feet to crawl through the ground like or was a wave of water.
"Rise!"
Tens of Shadow Generals and hundreds of Captains rose from her shadow at her command, emitting a strong bloodthirst that permeated the atmosphere.
"Put on a good show for me, please~!"
After Qing Tan's words fell, the shadow army charged at the demons chasing after Damien, causing even further chaos than what he had already instilled.
And this was exactly what Damien wanted.
'Although I don't know much about barriers, I at least know the basics. For this barrier to independently sustain itself, it needs to have at least one barrier core. And even if it has multiple, as long as I can break one I can destabilize its foundation and find a way out.'
The easiest way to find the barrier cores was to just destroy everything and reveal them, but Damien didn't have the luxury to do so while he was being chased by a Demon King. He could only rely on this roundabout strategy to achieve similar results.
As he had seen when Qing Tan walked into the barrier, it didn't have a complete isolation effect. Those outside could enter, but those within couldn't leave.
This way, no matter how many demons died, more could arrive to supplement their numbers. Damien needed the chaos within the fourth layer to intensify as much as it could so that the flaws within the barrier would become more obvious.
He had already seen some results. The previous translucent barrier that he could only see when he poured mana into his All-Seeing Eyes was now shining bright gold. With this, he could clearly delineate its boundaries, which would help him narrow his search area.
Now that Qing Tan had joined the fray, and Feng Qing'er would soon join as well, he felt that it wouldn't be long before he'd be able to find the most critical flaws around.
