'This is…!'
In front of Damien's eyes, Luo Sheng pulled a strange object out of his spatial ring. It looked similar to a whip, but at the same time looked like a rope with a sack attached to the end. Overall, it was a strange weapon.
But even more curious was Luo Sheng who whipped his wrist, causing the line to revolve around him.
"Most likely, you are the last opponent I will face before my death. If it is so, then I shall use every card I possess!"
Mana raged like a mad hurricane flooding into the strange weapon. Luo Sheng's arm waved through the air strongly, and his body heavily whipped to the side!
BANG!
A massive bang rang out as space directly collapsed. The soundwave alone was enough to kill the weaker practitioners nearby.
But more than that…
"Keuk!"
Damien vomited a mouthful of blood. His awareness immediately spread to his side. There, he found that a large chunk of his body was no longer present.
Luckily, the damage stopped at his ribs. If the impact was just slightly fiercer, Damien would've directly died.
His mind went into high alert. The threat of death that he hadn't felt in so long, he felt it from that strange weapon.
BANG!
Luo Sheng's body furiously whipped to the side once more, and space shattered with the momentum of his weapon. The bulbous end of the weapon moved as if it was teleporting, arriving at Damien's chest wanting to pierce directly through.
Damien's eyes widened in focus. This time, since he specifically looked for it, he was able to somewhat track its movements.
His body moved to the side, disappearing as he melded into the spatial layers. When the sack whipped to impact, it was met with empty air.
But Damien wasn't going to let things go so easily. Before anything else, he needed to make sure Luo Sheng could no longer use that strange weapon. Even if he understood how it worked, he couldn't afford to concentrate his attention on such a small object in the midst of a large battle.
If Luo Sheng sneak attacked him while his focus was elsewhere, it'd be fatal, especially in the few minutes before Transcendent Regeneration healed his side.
He appeared back in his original position in an instant. His arm whipped forward and grabbed the head of the strange weapon before Luo Sheng could recall it.
Mana twisted around his hand violently as he clutched his fist, attempting to directly crush the weapon.
But this didn't work at all. No matter how much force Damien put into his grip, the seemingly weak body of the weapon turned into something on par with the most heavenly metals.
"Hahaha!" Luo Sheng laughed at his attempts. "My Phantom Mace Vine is a treasure birthed by the heavens themselves! A weak child like you doesn't have the right to put your hands on it!"
'Right.' Damien thought to himself. He had almost forgotten the existence of heavenly treasures.
These agglomerations of mana and miracle created by the universe itself. In actuality, Damien had never come across a true supreme treasure.
The Primordial Undying Tree was assumed to be exactly that by the White Dragon King and the other sovereigns of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range, but in fact, they were dead wrong.
The Primordial Undying Tree was a natural evolution of the World Tree after Alaric began actively interfering in its development. Its existence can be wholly attributed to him, though a great amount of luck was no doubt involved in the process.
Regardless, the point still stood. Damien knew that the universe could birth treasures on its own, but he'd never seen an example in reality.
But now, one was right in front of his eyes. Although it was most likely the trashiest of trash when compared to other supreme treasures, the fact that this treasure was a weapon alone was enough to give it immense value.
'Is the universe being influenced by human hands? Or were these inventions thought to be human ingenuity actually bestowed upon us by the universe itself?'
It was a curious thing he could ponder in his free time, but that wasn't now. Damien ignored Luo Sheng's earlier shout and continued to pour more mana into his grip.
Though, he wasn't stupid enough to assume he could still destroy the treasure. His goal had changed completely.
'In terms of defense, he trumps me, but if it's physical strength…'
Damien grinned. His muscles bulged as if they would burst, thick veins pulsating under his skin. His mana flared out with such vigor that it somewhat distorted reality with its presence.
Within his body, Void Essence circulated fiercely. Damien was using the Devour ability in a far less showy fashion, activating it internally rather than manifesting it.
But its effects weren't diminished. Droves of mana rushed into Damien's body, attracted by Devour's suction force. Even as he wantonly used his mana, his reserves weren't anywhere near running low.
As for where his mana was going? From his fists, his mana transferred into the so-called Phantom Mace Vine. There were two effects he intended with this action.
The first was to attempt to overload or disorient the mana flowing inside the treasure. This way, Luo Sheng's control would collapse or at least weaken.
As for the second reason, it was more of a stretch. Despite the fact that he didn't believe it was possible, Damien still attempted to claim ownership of the treasure by having it accept his mana.
Treasures of this level were often sentient and able to choose their owners. The possibility of the treasure choosing him was minuscule, but still present.
Nonetheless, only a portion of Damien's mana was being directed into this task. Luo Sheng naturally wouldn't stand by and allow Damien to act as he pleased.
While the two played a game of life-or-death tug-of-war on one side, they constantly barraged each other with attacks on the other.
Shadow manifestations rushed at Damien with speed like spatial transportation. The mana protection covering Damien's body was pierced multiple times, riddling him with injuries.
His grievous side injury hadn't even been fully healed yet, so this kind of accumulation wasn't something he could easily take.
But Luo Sheng wasn't in better shape at all. All the while, he had also been attempting to defend against Damien's attacks. Random spatial collapses and compressions, distance being tampered with on a whim, although Damien's attacks were less direct, they caused far more damage.
The pair completely forwent defense in this moment. Their goals aligned in that all they wished for at the moment was to kill their enemy.
Bang!
A sudden muffled explosion rang out in the space between the pair. Without warning, the Phantom Mace Vine burst from the control of both Damien and Luo Sheng, borrowing their colliding mana to launch itself away.
The two watched silently.
Their battle seemed to pause as they attempted to comprehend what just happened.
Off in the distance, the visage of a strange-looking whip flying through the air could be seen.
BOOOOM!
Explosions from the battlefield below covered the scene. At the same time, it returned Damien and Luo Sheng to their current situation.
For now, neither of them had the capacity to chase after the Phantom Mace Vine. Besides, even if they caught it, they were sure it wouldn't have any use.
Since the sentient treasure decided to flee from them, it meant it wouldn't obey them. It would take a long process of wearing it down and associating with it before they could draw out its strength.
If so, there was a far more important matter for them to attend to.
Mirage appeared in Damien's hand once more. Luo Sheng's twin daggers appeared to accompany it for a dance.
This time, they would truly decide life or death between them.
