As Damien looked down at Aishia's form in his arms, he felt nothing but pity for the woman. The feelings between men and women weren't present in his eyes at all.
When he first arrived in this world and met Aishia, she had been both his greatest help and the one he was wariest of. But back then, he didn't truly understand her plight.
And he was sure that even at this moment, Aishia didn't understand how pitiful she was.
When Damien exited his seclusion after swallowing the World Core Fusion Reactor, he found himself within the floating siege weapon titled Avalon. It was quite the jarring change from the Hub City he had grown to know.
His first instinct after being absent for so long was, of course, to gain information. And luckily, Victor, the rancid man, was happy to provide it. Damien learned about the gist of events that had taken place in the world while he was absent from the man. Along with it, he was able to use his previous knowledge to form some guesses about things he only theorized previously.
Aishia was one of these things.
At first, he'd been incredibly suspicious of her position. Especially with that little girl Reva who carried the scent of the Abyss, there was no way for Damien to trust her easily.
But he was wrong, he was overly suspicious because of his lack of knowledge.
In fact, of this world's natural denizens, perhaps Aishia had suffered the most.
Her entire race was slaughtered in front of her eyes, and the family that took her in turned out to be a group of hypocritical scum, even in her final moment, she most likely didn't understand the complexities of the situation that caused it to devolve to such a level. She didn't have the mental capacity to question it in her current state.
Damien sighed with emotion. Even as an exalted 4th class existence, Aishia was still forced to bear the struggles of the weak. Her plight truly allowed him to understand the vastness of the world.
But none of that mattered now. Damien felt a sudden pang in his heart. When he looked for its source, he found a white-haired beauty staring at him from the ground, a teasingly questioning look on her face.
Seeing her, Damien smiled wryly and hastily withdrew his arms from Aishia's waist, holding them up to proclaim his innocence. Only then did Ruyue nod in satisfaction.
She and Rose had been present on this battlefield from the start. The two women worked in tandem to slaughter countless 3rd class existences, pushing them closer and closer to the same boundary Damien found himself resisting.
Naturally, the battlefield was the best place to gain strength. Even if the Nox beings that the Celestial and Star Squadrons were fighting also gave experience, it wasn't nearly the same.
Those Nox were a mixture of 3rd class, 2nd class, 1st class, and even classless beings. When the disparity in strength grew so large, one wouldn't even gain experience any more from slaughtering.
Therefore, the two women and many others decided to visit the main battlefield. Those remaining to take care of the Nox were those who lost the draw they had taken to decide roles.
At this time, Rose and Ruyue were mere specks of dust among the many 3rd class existences spanning the plains. Even Damien was only able to locate them due to his soul connection with Ruyue.
The entire matter between the two took place within an instant, and before those 4th classes targeting Aishia could make another move, Damien had already spread his awareness through the battlefield, thoroughly preparing to receive them.
BOOM!
A large number of elemental attacks were thrown out in tandem, meshing together into a multicolored light that rushed at Damien. But before it could reach him, space caved and bent, twisting their attack trajectories and banishing them into the void.
A nearly untraceable strand of World Force remained at the point of collision.
"What?!"
"How is this possible?!"
A variety of exclamations rang out at once. How could they not be surprised? A mere 3rd class ant had just blocked their combined attack!
But contrary to the ease at which he displayed his ability, Damien could clearly feel his blood rolling from the backlash. He had only just fused his three World Cores; it was impossible for him to proficiently control his new abilities.
He rapidly grabbed the stunned Aishia and retreated even further, completely leaving the battlefield. Finally, he was able to drop her off in a more stable position.
"Stay here for a bit. When your mind has cleared, we can speak."
"Ah…"
Aishia wanted to say something, but by the time a sound leaked from her mouth, Damien was already gone.
He returned to the battlefield, facing those 4th-class existences with a savage grin on his face.
"Good! None of you surpass the middle levels of 4th class. Although this exceeds my current limit, I don't believe I can't escape from you unharmed!"
His words were laced with clear provocation. He was telling them to focus on him instead of Aishia. And looking at the conditions of the two currently, Damien was naturally the greater threat.
"Don't underestimate him because of his level!" A red-robed old man shouted. "Let's attack him together!"
The surrounding 4th classes nodded in unison. After seeing Damien easily deflect their combined attack earlier, not a single one had thoughts of underestimating him.
Killing intent flared. The battle in the sky was only moments away from resuming. But at that moment, the Heavens lost their light.
"Hm?" Damien's brow furrowed as he looked up. A frightening aura was present in this blackness. It wasn't a simple natural phenomenon caused by someone's attack.
Within the dark skies, four men stood at a standstill. They were Wrath, Odin, the Drunken Old Immortal, and Albeus.
"Wrath, what are you trying to do? How dare you direct your aura to attack?!" Albeus roared furiously.
Just a moment ago when Damien was preparing to face off against the 4th classes, Wrath had actually used his aura to attempt to suppress him!
With Albeus and the Drunken Old Immortal present, how could they allow that to happen? Before anything negative could take place, they used their own auras to wash away Wrath's. This small collision was enough to fill the sky with rampant mana and change its color.
Seeing the men around him stare at him so vigilantly, Wrath merely smiled. "What's the problem? I was merely announcing my presence. It's not as if my attack would've harmed anyone."
His words were casual as if nothing in the world was related to him. He was just an observer present for entertainment.
But were these Demigods idiots?
Absolutely not!
Let alone the Drunken Old Immortal who knew about the Seed's existence, even Albeus and Odin were able to understand that Wrath had intentions towards someone on the battlefield. And judging by his timing, this person was Damien!
While Albeus and Damien hadn't known each other for long, they got along well. It wasn't a stretch to call the two friends, as Damien had never let something like a power gap decide how he acted around people.
Naturally, Albeus wouldn't let any harm come to this young and talented friend of his! As for the Drunken Old Immortal, his job was to suppress Wrath and protect the Cloud Plane's forces. Even disregarding the seed, wouldn't it be a great loss of face if he allowed Wrath to do as he pleased?
Their demeanors only caused Wrath's smile to widen. "What, you care about that boy so much? I don't believe you understand the importance of his existence. Come, allow me to pour just a bit of my aura into his body and you'll be able to witness for yourself his grand destiny."
Albeus gritted his teeth. He knew Damien was special long ago. If not, there was no way so many strange events would revolve around him. Wrath, the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, Lynn Carter, the Outer Wilds Death Gods, the list went on. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't curious about these secrets at all.
"…but those are his secrets to keep," Albeus replied resolutely. "If he does not wish to share them, then that is his choice! Wrath, do not try to use your words to sway me. I am not so weak!"
The Drunken Old Immortal nodded from the side, tacitly agreeing to Albeus' words. Even if he didn't have a personal connection with Damien, Shangguan Yu seemed to favor him a great deal.
Not only that, but he was also the Cloud Plane's Star Master. If something untoward happened to him, the world would be affected too.
By some coincidence, these two Demigods found it in their best interest to protect Damien.
Seeing this, Wrath could only shake his head. "Greed is a natural instinct for all beings. The only reason you do not possess it is because you do not understand the value of the treasure you are protecting."
His eyes hardened, his pupils narrowing into slits. "If that is so, then allow me to show you. Perhaps only then will you take my words seriously."
