"Starfall."
The sky caved, giving way to tens of portals. Under Damien's guidance, meteorites breached the Dawn World's atmosphere through these portals and rained down on the Eclipse Sect!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Their impacts were rapid and heaven-shaking. Regardless of how the remaining Eclipse Sect disciples tried to defend themselves, they couldn't escape the Starfall's destruction.
Flames raged as the earth caved. Magma burst through the ground and turned the Eclipse Sect's land into a flaming sea. At the same time, the craters left behind by the meteorite rain expanded into massive chasms that led deep into the Dawn World's surface.
It was a hellish scene. Even before the meteor rain ended, everyone remaining in the Eclipse Sect was dead. Those few hundred people lost their lives so easily.
But Damien wasn't trying to destroy the entire Dawn World. The meteorites rained down solely on the Eclipse Sect's area, and after only a few seconds, Damien closed the portals they entered through.
But this was more than enough. Rather than the Eclipse Sect, the only thing remaining in the area was a death zone.
Damien, Zara, Jiao Mei, and the restricted Eclipse Sect Master stood in the air above this destruction. While Zara and Damien didn't show much reaction, the same couldn't be said for the other two.
Jiao Mei's shock was apparent, but more reserved since she was already aware of Damien's power. Still, seeing him destroy the entire sect in seconds left a deep impression in her heart.
As for the Eclipse Sect Master, his expression was lifeless. After that scene, how could he have any more thoughts of resisting?
Damien glanced at him indifferently. "He's yours. I've taken away his mana and left him crippled, so anything you decide to do, he'll be forced to endure. I'll come find you tomorrow so we can depart."
After saying a few more words to Jiao Mei, he and Zara disappeared. Jiao Mei's gaze landed on the Eclipse Sect Master's pitiful form. With a sigh, she slashed her arm through the air, swiftly decapitating him.
With his will already broken, there was no point in torturing him. She wouldn't receive any joy from the act either. She just wanted to kill him and sever her karma with the Dawn World.
Taking one last glance at the Eclipse Sect's remains, Jiao Mei left the area. She would spend this day of respite preparing her people for departure and resting.
***
In an isolated cave somewhere, Damien sat quietly with his back against his wall. A large black mass was draped over his lap as he did so. This was naturally Zara.
Her beast form had gone through some changes after her ascension and Baptism. Not only was her fur sleeker and more attuned to darkness, those massive fallen angel-like wings of hers were made of terrifying feathers with the strength of SSS-rank artifacts.
The most noticeable difference, however, was the addition of another two tails at her rear, bringing the total number to four. Damien didn't know the significance of these tails, but considering how they multiplied according to Zara's strength, they were surely related to her bloodline somehow.
As for her bloodline, this was exactly the topic of Damien and Zara's conversation as they rested for a day. Zara had found out some clues about her origins from Tang Lingzi, but with her bloodline being so strange, even Tang Lingzi couldn't accurately pinpoint her ancestry.
Nevertheless, the fact that there was Nox blood running through her veins was all but confirmed. While she fretted about how to tell Damien this for a period of time, she finally ended up spilling the truth on their final day in the Dawn World.
But frankly, Damien didn't care. Whether she was a Nox or a Universe Devourer, she was still the same Zara he found and befriended in the First Dungeon. He didn't think their bond could be broken by something as vague as race.
The two's conversation continued until daylight shone down on the world once more. Whether it was Zara's origins, their personal experiences during their separation, or the improvements in their power sets, they were finally able to take time to catch up on everything they needed.
"Haa," Damien sighed as he stood up. "I guess it's time to go. Six months…with my current abilities, I should be able to make it in 5 if I rush with everything I have. That leaves us a month of leeway in case we encounter anything fun along the way."
He took out the star chart Atticus gave him and looked at it once more. "Death Emperor Star is relatively isolated. Unfortunately, we'll only be passing a few inhabited worlds along the way. Of those, I don't know how many are worthy of our time."
As he muttered to himself, he wasn't disheartened. After all, even if there were no special events along the way, he'd still profit.
Uninhabited worlds also had World Cores after all. While he couldn't take every single one for himself, it wouldn't be difficult to take over a few on the way.
"You ready?" He turned around and asked Zara.
"Mm," she replied with a nod. Her body was covered in a dim black light as she transformed back into her human form. A long black dress materialized soon after to cover her naked body.
The two vanished from their cave, arriving at Jiao Mei's personal palace. After giving a brief overview of the Sanctuary to those present, Damien sent them in to see it themselves.
"The place you're going to now is the peaceful world I told you about before. If you like it, you can stay as long as you want." He told Jiao Mei as he teleported her to the Sanctuary.
After receiving her nod, Damien also sighed in relief. Everything he had to do on the Dawn World was now done.
'I guess I have to check my rewards from the Mystic Realm, but I can do that after I've already made some progress in my journey.'
If the Dimensional Leaderboard could only rank geniuses who explored its Mystic Realms, it wouldn't have become so popular. Those who ranked in the top 10 of a Mystic Realm would receive rewards, and the top 3 would gain even better harvests.
If Damien hadn't proven his strength after exiting the Mystic Realm, he likely would've been hunted by opportunistic people who wanted his treasures.
This was most likely part of the reason the Heavenly Jewel Palace Master acted so rashly against Jiao Mei.
Regardless, checking his rewards could be done at any time, and at least for now, he didn't need any power-boosting treasures.
Damien's gaze panned to the sky. Zara was in his shadow, Jiao Mei and her people were in the Sanctuary, the Dawn World's World Core was under his control…
He smiled lightly. His entrance into the Divine Realm was truly superb.
With that final thought, his figure faded from existence, never to be seen on the Dawn World again.
Legends of his actions would be passed down for generations, stories of a man who rampaged through the world and destroyed two of its greatest sects with ease. This man was later titled the Demon God as stories of his feats became more and more exaggerated. Despite his brief appearance, in the Dawn World's history, he was both someone to be feared and respected by all.
But, that was a story taking place far in the future.
At the current time, only the name Damien Void rooted itself in the hearts of those who witnessed him.
