Black skies, black seas, black land; Calypto was drowned in black to the point where Damien got tired of the color.
"It's worse than I thought." He murmured to himself.
The remaining 6 continents on Calypto were more than just unlivable, they were completely desolated. The ground was cracked and sundered, and even stepping on it would inflict one with a deadly curse.
But this was merely the earth alone. The air was poisonous, and even the waters were filled with corruption that could immediately turn anyone who drank it into a mindless berserker who killed until they died.
'And that bastard was prepared, too prepared. Was this his goal from the start?'
The depth of Calypto's corruption was far worse than when only the World Core was infected. At this rate, it would take hundreds of years after the World Core recovered for this world to accept life once more.
'Luckily, damage control is going relatively well.'
The bright side was the fact that barely any sentient life existed on Calypto, aside from those that'd already been corrupted.
The kidnapped victims in the research sites were mostly rescued, and almost all of the food supplies were also emptied out. Of the total population of prisoners on the planet, only around 10% died in the ensuing catastrophe.
But that was still tens of thousands of people.
'The Saint Emperor doesn't give a shit about captives. His aim in corrupting Calypto was…'
Me.
The thought came to Damien's head instantly. Other than he, the Celestial who would bind Calypto, nobody else would suffer from the planet's current state.
Even Heaven's Army never had plans for Calypto. The world was too deep in the middle of Eden for it to matter strategically, considering the Sector's current state.
'But the luckiest part isn't any of that.'
Damien's awareness connected to the recuperating World Core and spread through the depths of the earth.
It was extremely close to the World Core, almost too close for comfort, but there was a large hollowed cave-like area present there beneath the earth.
'It's not naturally formed.'
Damien didn't notice it until the control efforts began, and when he did, one of his main worries disappeared completely.
'Looks like I'll still be able to complete the mission the Director gave me.'
His body disappeared from the surface.
When the Director prefaced the mission to Damien, his exact words were "devastate and conquer," and while Damien had done both of those things, he'd yet to accomplish the final task he was given.
It was perhaps the most important, and the task Damien fretted over most throughout his stay on Calypto.
After all, it was nearly impossible to discover the underground cavern without the World Core's assistance.
But now…
Damien's body rematerialized in the cavern. The damp smell of blood, sweat, and feces filled his nose.
It was a truly disgusting place.
The walls were lined with chains, each pair holding the wrists of another prisoner. Each of these prisoners was covered in an array of body fluids, not completely their own.
And more than that, their bodies were brutally broken. Some were sewn together with other prisoners, and there were even some who'd been fused with disgusting lifeforms that Damien didn't even want to name.
Damien walked through the cavern slowly, his eyes panning from side to side in search of any life signatures.
'They're all dead…though, it may be for the better.'
For these people who'd undergone inhumane torture and become monsters, perhaps death was the least painful future.
Damien's clothes fluttered as he jumped from the edge of a cliff and fell deeper into the cavern.
All around, similar sights of tragedy filled his eyes. It was hard for him to find a method of torture that wasn't used.
When he finally reached the cavern's deepest depths, his foot touched ground in the midst of a swarming pit of unidentified insects.
'Fuck…'
He cursed as he stomped his foot into the ground, sending a shockwave that pushed away any creature near him.
'Mana is suppressed down here, almost to the point of becoming completely obsolete.'
He walked forward without hesitation, pushing away bugs and decaying bodies until he reached the end of the cavern.
It was an ordinary wall with no special features, at least on the outside.
But the All-Seeing Eyes showed Damien something different.
'I finally found you…'
BANG!
His fist went through the wall, destroying the magic that enchanted it and opening up the passage within.
There was only a single person.
Chains stretched down from the ceiling to cuff their wrists, and chains came up from the ground to cuff their ankles.
A strange crystal lined the walls of the cave in which this person was being held. As soon as Damien entered their vicinity, he felt his consciousness becoming faint.
'Fuck…I guess it takes this much to deal with someone on that level…'
He gritted his teeth and pushed into the cave, using his Mind Prison to numb the sensation filling his body.
He finally reached that person's position, and was able to see their face for the first time.
A smile crept up his own.
"So we finally meet. Aesir Blackwood, I've been looking for you."
World Force materialized in the air, giving off a formless fluctuation that offset the cave's natural defenses.
[Break]
Damien used the absolute power of a Celestial to destroy the chains binding the man named Aesir's extremities and caught the man's limp body before he could fall to the floor.
'Amazing. According to the Director's information, he's been stuck here for at least 3 years, yet he's still in perfect condition.'
3 years was nothing to a practitioner who could survive off of mana alone, but in this manaless environment, accomplishing the same feat could only be called a miracle.
As Damien brought the man's body out of the cave, his eyes slowly opened.
"Urgh…"
A pained groan left his mouth. His vision was hazy, and the feeling of movement after so long almost made him nauseous.
"Put me down…for a second…" He squeezed out through pained breaths.
Naturally, Damien complied. Teleporting to the surface with someone as weak as Aesir would only cause his death.
Aesir closed his eyes immediately upon touching solid ground. Even in the suppressing environment, breaths of mana began emanating from his body.
'At this rate…'
It only took half an hour for Aesir's once terribly injured body to return to its peak condition.
His eyes opened again, containing almost an abyssal emptiness as they turned towards Damien.
"I apologize for the inconvenience. Allow me to reintroduce myself now that I am in somewhat better condition. I am Aesir Blackwood. May I have the honor of knowing my benefactor's name?"
"Mm, I'm Damien Void. It's a pleasure to meet in this form."
"This form?"
"Come on, now. Are you really going to act clueless? You haven't been playing the 'recently rescued prisoner of war' act very well so far."
"What do you…"
"I mean, you didn't even question who I was when you woke up, you immediately figured out how to evade the cavern's mana suppression, and it seems as if you've been expecting my presence for a long time now. With all the hints you laid out in front of me, did you think I wouldn't notice?"
Aesir Blackwood's shocked expression slowly faded into one of curiosity.
"Then, who are you assuming me to be?"
Damien grinned a sly grin, like the grin of a fox. He clearly gave off the aura of someone up to no good.
"Hahaha, who do you think I assume you to be…Director?"
