The process of clearing the Black Demon Lightning from his body didn't take more than a few seconds, but to Damien, it was an eternity. His perception of time froze entirely as his focus sunk into the collision between his Void Mana and the terrifying lightning.
His eyes slowly fluttered open. Under the effects of [Heal], his arm regenerated as well. Finally seeing his body back in perfect condition, Damien let out a sigh of relief.
The prior crisis was unexpected to say the least. While Damien didn't react much in the moment, the changes in the Void Physique truly frightened him.
After his Baptism, while individually each of his facets became more perfect, as a whole they were disordered and chaotic. He didn't even know his own strength anymore.
From the previous battle, it seemed he overestimated himself. But at the same time, considering that he was able to resist a Demigod, was that really true?
So far, Damien only used the Void Physique's abilities supportively. Now that he'd partially fused with it, he had no choice but to use Void Mana as part of his main offensive arsenal.
However, the physique had been strangely inconsistent.
After his Baptism, Damien fought a great deal. During those fights, including the fight against the Fifth Primal Sovereign, the Void Physique's internal resistance ability wasn't suppressed at all. Without this internal protection, he might've died or been severely injured during those battles.
If so, then why did it remain unresponsive this time?
Damien didn't know at all, nor did he have any clues. At first, he suspected that it was due to the Black Demon Lightning itself, but he soon realized that this guess held no merit. After all, his Void Mana devoured a great deal of Black Demon Lightning during this excursion.
Aside from that, his Void Mana did indeed cleanse his body later, but rather than for his own safety, this move felt more geared towards the Void Mana's growth. When he first required its aid, it didn't respond at all.
The facts he knew only led him to a dead end. Damien soon understood that his journey to Divinity wouldn't be as smooth as he originally prospected. If he couldn't comprehend the Void, his strength might even deteriorate!
Strangely enough, this realization didn't bring with it any sadness. Instead, he felt incredibly spirited.
In the Human Domain, he didn't have any challenges like this. He had plenty of mental issues and enemies to defeat, but his own strength never failed him.
But now that he entered the Divine Realm, it was like the world was against him.
He had competition in his age range, the true enemies he'd face would be stronger, the Nox invasion was already underway, and on top of everything else, his personal strength was unstable as well.
If this wasn't a challenge, what was?
Damien smiled wryly and shook his head as he removed the Dimensional Cage around him.
'Maybe I should start accepting that I'm a bit of a masochist…'
Shaking away that terrifying thought, he returned his attention to the only other person present.
Atticus was currently in a stunned state as if he was the one who just fought a pillar of Black Demon Lightning. In his mind, he replayed the current scene over and over again.
In truth, the attack he formulated was only half the size of the one that struck Damien. Only, Black Demon Lightning was notoriously feral and bloodthirsty. Hundreds of extra threads joined the pillar during its descent and enhanced its power.
Visualizing the final pillar, Atticus was forced to wonder to himself: did he have the ability to resist such an attack?
The answer was no. While he was a monstrous genius, his depth was still within the bounds of common sense. Against a coalescence of Black Demon Lightning that could even kill an undefended high-level 4th class being, how could he resist?
The most he could do was mirror Damien's first attack and disperse half the lightning pillar's power. The remaining half that struck him would, at the very least, severely injure him.
Now, the man who survived that harrowing attack was standing thousands of kilometers away, seemingly unharmed. His bestial eyes were still filled with residual fighting intent and with his transformation still active, he looked especially intimidating.
As Atticus raised his spear warily, Damien opened his mouth and spoke. His voice traveled the distance between them like nothing and arrived in Atticus' ears.
"Damien Void. That's my name." He said. His words officially signaled the end of their battle.
Atticus sighed in relief and withdrew his spear.
"Atticus Flamesworth. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said courteously. Damien was stronger than him, after all, even if he didn't directly experience that strength.
Damien nodded his head in response. "So tell me, why is a supreme genius like you in a Mystic Realm like this? Aside from that, what's your rank on the Dimensional Leaderboard?"
Atticus raised an eyebrow questioningly as he replied, "I'm here simply to guide my junior disciples. As for my rank, can't you easily check it yourself?"
"I can?" Damien asked.
"Of course! What kind of leaderboard could function properly if one couldn't check it at any time? As long as you've been registered by the Dimensional Leaderboard, you can check its rankings with a single thought."
Atticus replied straightforwardly, but in his mind, he was utterly confused. Was Damien raised in an isolated mountain somewhere? Otherwise, how could he lack basic knowledge that even mortals knew?
Damien rubbed his chin. "Hmm, this is my first Mystic Realm though so I'm probably not registered. That'll only happen when we leave, right?"
Atticus experienced another shock. Damien's words essentially meant that he raised his strength to such a level through brutal life-or-death struggles without the leaderboard's help. How could Atticus not be surprised?
But at the same time, he was curious and excited. The Grand Heavens Boundary was in need of every genius it could get. And while his main goal in this Mystic Realm was to obtain the lightning seed residing within, he actually had a secondary goal that he never thought he'd accomplish.
In fact, it was a goal that every peak genius in the Grand Heavens Boundary shared.
"Come to Death Emperor Star," he blurted out unintentionally.
"I mean, sure, but let's finish our previous conversation first."
"Uh…"
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing," Atticus said, embarrassed. "The top 100 of the Dimensional Leaderboard are visible to all people. As long as you call it out, you'll be able to view it. I'm ranked 53rd if you were wondering."
"53? I guess that's not a bad starting point…" Damien muttered to himself. "Anyway, I think we can save the rest of this conversation for later. Before we talk about all that Death Emperor Star nonsense, do you want this lightning seed or should I just take it for myself?"
Atticus' gaze panned down to Damien's hands. There, he witnessed Damien spinning a small black ball covered in lightning bolts on his finger like a basketball. Even from a distance, he could hear the lightning's furious booms as it attempted to resist Damien's control to no avail.
Atticus was…stumped.
He had a sudden premonition that he'd lose a great deal of sleep if he involved himself too deeply with Damien.
