An entire day soon passed within the abyss and Damien had stopped fighting entirely. Although it was fun to let off some steam, monotonously fighting for such a long time became boring after a while.
Instead, he simply allowed the Void Flames to flourish as he reveled in the feeling of experience pouring into his body. It had been a long time since he simply sat back and felt it.
His level had been increasing steadily for a while now, so he didn't really notice, but now that he was killing tens of thousands of 3rd class beasts, he had seen a significant increase in his level.
The feeling of his league being heightened was wonderful. It was strange but comfortable.
"My league and my legend. Even until now I still haven't truly gotten an explanation on what either of these things is. But for my league, I have a rough guess. State of existence. That should be it."
Although he hadn't touched on godhood yet, he was no longer a mortal. It was due to the continuous heightening of his league every time he leveled up. Levels themselves seemed to just be a numerical representation of this increase.
As for class changes, they were much more significant.
"Class changes most likely have to do with the legend just as much as they do with league. That's why there's such a massive leap in both power and state of existence with every rank up. But in the end, what is a legend?"
From the definition on earth. Legends were grand tales of accomplishment and adventure. They were heroic stories of people and beings who did things so wondrous that their names resounded across the lands.
But how could something like a story compare to the legend the system spoke of, something that could impose itself on reality and cause changes?
"It's still too early to learn about it, huh…well, not like I need the information now anyway."
Damien sighed and went back to regulating the Void Flames. He had long since stopped keeping track of his kill count.
"Hmm?"
He suddenly noticed an oddity. Within the blackness of the abyss, there was a small flicker of light far in the distance from where he stood. That flicker was pure white, completely unlike the light of the Void Flame.
He had already wasted too much time in the abyss. Since there was a new development after so long, he naturally chased it.
Recalling the Void Flames, he rushed over to that flicker of light. As he drew closer, the size of the light also expanded.
When he arrived, he was standing in front of a massive gate coated in shining white light.
"Is this the exit? Have I finally passed whatever trial I was supposed to be taking just now?"
Damien wondered out loud as he approached the gate. Now that he had been in the abyss for so long, he had a rough idea of what the trial was.
It was a simple trial of attrition, but such a trial could be used to judge many things. Battle awareness, mana control, willpower, and more could be seen when one was forced to fight a horde like the one in the abyss.
Only, Damien was an outlier who would gain more stamina as long as he had more enemies to devour. But that too was a type of strength. It could be said that he passed the trial with flying colors.
As Damien walked through the gate, he was enveloped by that shining white light. He felt its aura infiltrating his body and soothing him.
"For normal people, this would probably be a heavenly pleasure. It's healing even the hidden injuries I didn't know about and washing away any fatigue I might've had."
After coming out of a battle such as the precious one, any other genius would probably fall in love with the feeling of this light. Unfortunately, Damien had already recovered his fatigue by himself, and his regeneration took care of most of his injuries.
'Well, I'll still be thankful that it healed those hidden injuries.' He thought as he exited the light.
He soon found himself inside of a large dining hall.
'…dining hall? That's not right, is it?'
He rubbed his eyes to check whether he was seeing it right, but it was indeed a dining hall. There was a long and ornate table that was lined with rows of chairs where guests would be seated, and the smell of delicious food being cooked permeated the atmosphere.
Damien tried to walk forward, but found that he was bound by an invisible force. Although he could still move, his movements were limited to the direction in which the force guided him.
Without another choice, he followed the direction he was given and arrived at a seat along the long table.
'This is…I'm seated next to the head of the table, huh. The Inheritance site must've been satisfied with my performance.'
As Damien took his seat, he noticed multiple doors lining the halls of the large dining room opening at the same time.
"This is…"
"Where are we?"
"Smells good…"
Various reactions could be heard as those individuals found themselves in the same situation as Damien. And just like him, they were guided to their own seats at the table.
"Hey, who's that guy?"
"I don't know, I've never seen him before."
A few of them also noticed Damien and his particularly flashy seat at the table and whispered about him, but he ignored it. Soon, he spotted a few familiar figures.
"Yo!"
He shouted across the room, attracting the attention of those two who had just walked in.
When they saw him, their eyes widened in shock and delight.
"Damien!"
"Bastard, you finally decided to wake up."
Qing Tan and Feng Qing'er smiled and waved back as they followed the path to their seats. Damien smiled when he noticed that they weren't far from him at all. In fact, Feng Qing'er was seated right beside him while Qing Tan was seated across from her.
"Wait, if you guys are here, then who takes the seat across from me?" Damien wondered out loud.
"Ehem, that would be me."
A new voice entered at that moment. This effeminate yet not womanly voice, Damien recognized it well.
When he looked over, he saw the figure of a tall androgynous man gracefully taking his seat across from him.
"Femboy Demon King!"
"I do not know what that means, but I'll assume it was a compliment. However, I'd prefer if you called me by my name."
Demon King Eden slightly furrowed his brows as he responded, noticing that the four nearest spots to the head of the table had already been filled.
"It seems as if the two of you outperformed my colleagues. I give you my sincerest congratulations, as it isn't a small feat at all to overtake a Demon King."
"Hmph! Those two haven't even arrived yet. Who knows if they've been killed by the Inheritance Trials already." Feng Qing'er scoffed.
"No wonder I felt like a fly was buzzing by my ear. It turns out there was a bitch talking about me behind my back."
A female voice coldly interrupted from behind them. The Demon Queen, who had just arrived, soon sat down next to Qing Tan.
"Hahaha! It seems everyone is present! Brat, even you came! Let's fight properly this time!"
Another boorish voice came as well as Demon King Granheim entered the fray. As expected, his spot was next to Feng Qing'er.
Damien watched their arrival in amusement.
"Looks like everyone's here! Masochist Demon King and Slutty Demon Queen, welcome to the party!"
He expertly hid the sly smile on his face as he spoke.
But when the two Demon Kings were about to speak up to counter, a loud bang resounded through the dining hall.
All the seats at the table had been filled with tens of individuals who entered the Inheritance site. And with all parties present, it was time for the dinner party to begin.
