Compared to the minute Damien spent with Julius in the duel arena, Zara and Julius remained inside for an entire 5 minutes.
When the barrier finally receded, a happily smiling Zara skipped over to Damien.
"That was a lot of fun! I didn't know it felt so good to relieve stress. We should do this more often!" She said excitedly.
"Dummy!" Damien replied, knocking on her forehead. "We can't just go traumatizing random strangers on the side of the street. Just relax and wait for the enemies to come find us. Then, you can play around to your heart's content."
"But how do you know they'll come for us?" Zara asked.
Damien shrugged. "I mean, if we send their lackey back looking like that, don't you think they'd feel at least a little provoked?"
He pointed at Julius' slumped figure. He was prone on the ground with his rear pointing skyward. His mouth foamed and his eyes were dull and empty.
"Sheesh, what the hell did you do to him? I think his spiritual world collapsed entirely from the stress." Damien commented in wonder and a bit of fear. Zara's methods had always been on the crueler side.
In response, Zara flashed a bright smile like sunshine lighting up a gloomy day. "Hm? I just showed him the first four moves from Master's 'Asshole Men Should Suffer' technique set. Did I go overboard?"
"Cough, n-no you didn't…Tang Lingzi, she…never mind."
Damien coughed awkwardly and shook the matter off. Since he and Zara were so close, he never needed to worry about experiencing Tang Lingzi's terrifying skill set…right?
Its name alone made him shudder in fear. But in this case, it did work in his favor. He'd been planning to completely break Julius from the start.
A savage grin spread on his face. He'd always been the type to avoid trouble or cut the weeds and stomp the roots whenever he met a troublesome situation. He'd lived a relatively straightforward life because of this trait of his.
He wasn't a fan of needless conflict and unnecessary escalation.
But that was in normal times.
Right now, Damien wanted strength as fast as possible. To grow, he needed as much conflict as he could stomach.
As he started to shine brighter and brighter in Hidden Death Valley, people would inevitably start viewing him differently. Some might even back off and attempt to befriend him based on their projections of his potential.
He needed to make sure there was at least one powerful adversary that had animosity so great that they'd pursue him regardless of consequence, to the point of self-destruction.
Only then could he create a villain that'd keep him entertained.
The rumors he'd heard about Immortal Blood Holy Land were largely negative, and they were also Fallen Star Holy Land's enemy. Fallen Star Holy Land wasn't a close friend of Damien's, but he at least had a favorable impression of them due to Atticus…
"…no. Needlessly justifying my actions will only delude me into a god complex."
Damien stopped himself from thinking about the bigger picture. He knew deep down that he didn't care about those conflicts at all. Growing his personal strength, this selfish reason was why he decided to oppose Immortal Blood Holy Land.
After experiencing the Challenge Gate, Damien no longer wanted to reject who he was. His general indifference towards others and selfishness weren't traits he could change. They were defining parts of his personality and traits he developed from those years he spent alone and rabid like a beast.
He only needed to quell this indifference for the people he cared about. For those that didn't fit this category, he no longer felt the need to consider them enough to justify how he acted towards them.
He did what he wanted. If they didn't like how he carried himself, they could stay away from him. And if they decided to oppose him…
Julius' slumped body disappeared and reappeared in Damien's hand. He walked over to his private dorm's door and put his finger about 1/4th of the way down from the top.
Bzzt!
World Force gathered and solidified. The door began to morph. The wood that made up its surface collected and extended into a spike jutting out from the top of the door.
After controlling the earth below to fill the gaps left by the wood he used to make the spike, Damien took Julius and hung his body from it for all to see.
"Come on, let's see what our home for the next few years looks like," Damien told Zara with a smile after doing so.
Zara smiled back and waltzed forward. Together, the two entered the room as if nothing happened.
After checking the room out a bit, the two went about their own business for the night. Zara meditated to feel the Shadow Laws around her, which were especially present due to Hidden Death Valley's particular location. As for Damien, he began thinking about a plan for the coming mission.
Night turned to day quickly. After all, most of the night had already been spent by Damien and Zara enjoying Star City. Only a few hours after their altercation with Julius, the artificial sun rose over the horizon and painted the academy with light.
As more and more people stepped outside to start their days, Julius' body was immediately discovered.
A crowd gathered around Damien's dorm room. People used various recording devices to take pictures and videos of Julius, which spread through the academy like wildfire.
Still, Damien's name entering Heaven's List went unnoticed. The points he got from defeating Julius only put him around the 50,000s in the end, most likely because his strength was evaluated to far surpass his opponent's.
As people excitedly began to wonder about and search for the owner of this new private dorm's identity, a different scene was taking place in a palace on the other side of Star City.
A man with bloody red hair and crimson eyes sat on a throne. A servant kneeled before him, showing him an image of Julius and reciting the events that were taking place outside.
Kacha!
The wine glass in the man's hand shattered, the stench of blood wafting from the wine stains that formed.
"I see," he muttered. "Atticus' new dog…what an interesting guy."
A smile spread on his face. Despite his curious tone, his expression was frighteningly cold. A terrifying killing intent leaked from his eyes.
"You've only just arrived, but you so boldly provoke me…interesting, how interesting."
He continued repeating his words. The kneeling servant shivered in fear, not daring to move an inch from his spot.
"Just a dog…you're just a dog…what gave you the confidence…?!"
The man's ruthless expression shifted back to its previous indifference in an instant.
"It doesn't matter. You, send someone stronger than that pathetic Wellspring brat. I don't have the time to care about the actions of the Fallen Star Holy Son's dogs. If he keeps acting up, though…I might have to consider showing my dear friend how to properly discipline his pets."
A wicked smile spread across his face as he spoke. Standing up, he left the throne room.
The kneeling servant's head fell to the floor as he did so.
The man took a sip of the crimson wine that'd just filled his glass.
"Damien Void, was it? I look forward to seeing the source of your confidence."
