The blackness slowly faded as the large room came back into view. Both Zara and Rose were exhausted, but Damien was still doing fine. He hadn't been able to contribute much to this fight.
"So this is the Nox, huh," Damien said with a thoughtful look on his face.
"They're really strong, not to mention their insane regeneration. If Zara wasn't quick to use her ice, that battle would have been much worse," Rose responded while patting Zara.
"Hehe," Zara only giggled at the praise, not minding much about the battle itself.
"Still, we don't know how much uniqueness they have. Whether the weakness we found can be exploited or not remains to be seen."
Rose nodded. "This one didn't seem to use mana externally at all. And the way he maneuvered his body seemed more like a trait than a skill or anything."
Only then did Damien notice. The Nox they had fought did not use skills in the slightest. This was definitely weird. Even if they were a race that only used their physical body, they'd still develop skills.
With the way the Nox acted, it could be assumed that their intelligence wasn't high, similar to magic beasts who grow more intelligent as they gain strength. But if the Nox was purposefully acting that way to mislead them, it painted a whole different picture.
"Let's not make any assumptions after only a single fight. If we aren't cautious against a massive force like this, we'd lose our lives without even understanding how." Damien said before he remembered something.
"Speaking of not understanding, what was that skill you used? That was badass."
Damien usually abhorred calling out attack names, as it sounded cringe to do so, but when Rose did it during the battle, he had to admit that it was cool.
He silently considered whether he should start calling out some of his more concisely named skills when he used them.
Rose beamed at the mention of her abilities before answering, "That's the new skill I got from my class change! What I used was only a small portion of its full power, but it's all I can do right now. Hopefully, I learn to do some even crazier things with time."
Indeed, Rose's use of her Illusory Throne skill was rudimentary. It was a domain, a place where she was essentially a god-like being if she used it right.
Although the effects wouldn't work on those stronger than her, even hundreds of second classes together shouldn't be able to touch her if she was using it.
This was the reason that those who reached Grandmaster level control were valued higher than others. Domains were truly terrifying powers. Yet, the number of people that had reached this level of control, besides the various leaders, could be counted on one hand.
While Zara and Rose rested and regained their mana, Damien decided to explore the room. It was weird how such a large room remained wholly empty besides the obelisk and the Nox.
The walls and floor were constructed using a type of material Damien had never seen before even on Apeiron. It reminded him of marble, yet its integrity was leagues above such a normal mineral. After all, it withstood the aftershocks of the entire battle without even a single scratch.
Finding nothing particularly interesting about the rest of the room, Damien moved to the obelisk. It also looked normal no matter how much Damien observed it, but it gave him a mysterious feeling that he couldn't quite understand.
Circling the obelisk, he found that there was writing on the side, which he proceeded to recite so the girls could hear it.
"For you who had slain an enemy of this world, this obelisk serves as a reward. It isn't something created by us, rather it was something already present at the peak of this mountain before we turned this world into a secret realm.
"We have no idea its purpose, nor are we sure where it came from. All we know is that it can provide immense benefits to those it deems worthy. After all, it was due to this obelisk that I was able to rise to the ranks of demigods with ease.
"I leave your rewards in fate's hands. If you are here, it means that I have approved of you. Thus, I do not doubt that you will succeed in obtaining something great. To receive what the obelisk wishes to give, all you need to do is place your hand on its surface."
Damien looked back at the girls. "Well, since you guys are still recuperating, I'll go first and test if this thing really works."
He stepped forward, only slightly vigilant. After all, what could a stationary object without attack power due to hurt him?
But Damien didn't realize the severity of this obelisk. Lightly touching his hand to its surface, Damien felt an irresistible force entering his body. This force did an entire round through his internal body, his Void Physique not being able to hinder it in the slightest.
Then, it simply vanished. However, it didn't go alone. The second the force left his body, Damien disappeared from the room.
Zara was the first to notice. Her eyes snapped open as she felt her connection with Damien cut off. "Damien!" She yelled, but she didn't get any response.
Rose wasn't doing any better. She had seen Damien suddenly vanish, but she still didn't know how it happened. With this sudden turn of events, her rational mind had long been pushed away, letting her emotions take control.
Without even thinking of the consequences, Rose rushed to the obelisk and pushed her hand to its surface, attempting to reach Damien using the same method he did. And she as well felt the mysterious force. Without any suspense, Rose vanished as well.
Zara tried her best to follow them, but it was futile. No matter how much she pressed on the obelisk, scratched at it, or even tried to destroy it altogether, nothing worked.
Zara was thoroughly panicked. Ever since they had met in the dungeon, their mental connection had held firm. The only reason she was fine with separating from him to train was due to this mental connection.
Feeling it cut off made Zara feel alone. She felt like the tragedy she suffered with her parents was happening all over again. She didn't want to lose anyone else, but she lacked the power to help.
In her chaotic emotional state, Zara's bloodline surged. It was as if it was feeding on her pain. Her internal body began to wreck itself, fighting her own bloodline. Zara thrashed around. Not only was she losing Damien, she even randomly ended up in mind-numbing pain.
She couldn't handle the stress anymore, and directly passed out where she stood, her body slumping to the floor.
***
When Damien opened his eyes, he could only see pure blackness. Calling it darkness wasn't enough to justify just how empty the space around him was. Actually, as he tried to use his affinity, he couldn't even feel the existence of "space" around him.
Not only was the concept of space absent, but he also couldn't feel his own body. It was as if his consciousness had been pulled into emptiness.
It might have been seconds or it might have been years, but after a while, Damien realized that even the concept of time was missing. Damien's consciousness wandered without direction, being pulled along by waves of something he didn't understand.
At some point, he even began to doubt his existence.
'Who am I?'
'Where am I?'
It didn't take long for Damien to lose his reasoning. No matter how strong his will was, this type of situation wasn't something he could simply train himself to endure.
But he didn't lose his memories. Instead, he trapped himself within them so he could maintain at least his sense of self.
Time passed like this. Was it only a millisecond or did thousands of years pass? Damien didn't know. As he was carried by the current, something besides emptiness entered his vision.
Damien was enthralled. Any change in his current environment was something he would welcome. He didn't care about danger, or rather the concept of danger wasn't something he understood anymore.
He didn't know what he was doing or how he was doing it, but Damien slowly made his way over to that source of light.
What he saw was something he'd never forget no matter how long he lived.
A massive river. Larger than planets and larger than galaxies, this river spanned for eternity in both directions. If one attempted to find the ends of this river, they'd most likely forfeit their egos in the process. The river was pristine blue, not in the color of water but in the color of stars.
It was entirely made up of light, or was it energy? Damien had no idea. He just stared at this river unblinkingly, entranced by its flow.
'Damien Void. I am Damien Void.'
Something about the river helped him regain his sanity. It calmed his chaotic state and brought him to something similar to enlightenment. As if this was the cue it had been waiting for, the river swirled. Scenes began to play on its ethereal surface.
A man stood in front of an army. Countless hundreds of thousands of existences stood in front of him, attempting to halt his movement. The man stared at them calmly from his spot within the air. He gazed down upon them like they were ants. Lightly raising his hand, the man said a single word.
"Collapse."
All hell broke loose. The majority of the army was wiped out in that single move, with the residual shockwaves decimating the rest.
In the next scene, the man no longer needed to move. Enemies still barred his path, though less in number, their strength was unfathomable. But the man simply looked at them.
"Die."
That was all it took. An entire planet was razed with a single word from his mouth. The man then looked in a certain direction before smiling lightly. The people around the man were confused by his sudden behavior, but they had stood by his side for many years. Damien couldn't see their faces but he could feel their emotions They didn't doubt the man in the slightest.
Although those around the man didn't know what he was looking at, Damien did. After all, the man was staring straight at Damien. He didn't know how he knew this, but he understood that it was true. This was a feeling that stemmed from the core of his being.
The man's mouth moved, and Damien swore he could hear his voice.
"The space-time river, huh. Sure brings back memories."
That was the last thing Damien saw before everything started fading. He knew his time at the river was over, but he desperately wanted to stay.
However; he no longer had control of his movement.
As Damien was forced out of the emptiness, an inconspicuous part of the river detached from the rest, shooting into Damien's consciousness. The amount was smaller than even an atom, so Damien didn't even realize what happened.
Even as he tried his hardest to return to the river, Damien's vision once again faded to black.
