"Father…"
The man standing there had short black hair and deep blue eyes. He didn't look older than 35 and had a roguish and rugged aura around him that was similar to yet contrasted with Damien's own aura.
Damien closed his eyes and massaged his forehead before opening them back up to check whether or not he was hallucinating.
Unfortunately, that man was still standing there when he checked the third, fourth, and even fifth time.
"Yeah, I'm not dealing with this today."
Damien turned around and began walking without turning back.
"Wait, wait! What is this reaction?!"
The man materialized in Damien's path and waved his hands in a panic.
Damien rolled his eyes. "And? What type of reaction were you expecting?"
"Uhm, I don't know, maybe some shock or something? Where's the whole, 'oh my god that's really my father!' moment?"
Damien stared at the man with a dead fish gaze.
Was this really the father he knew?
"If you spring up on me like this before I can even get acclimated to the small realm, how am I supposed to be all surprised? I'm already disoriented from your wacky ass summoning methods."
"Come on, no son of mine will be bothered by a few mere spatial storms and some confusion."
"And how are you supposed to know that, you deadbeat piece of shit?"
"Aha…"
The man scratched his head in shame and glanced away. "Well, here I am…?"
"Tch."
Damien walked around him and continued without hesitation. He was going to leave this island, leave this realm, and continue living his life as if this encounter never happened.
Damien's body flashed and disappeared from the island, leaving only his sorrowful father behind.
'Fuck…what am I doing?'
Damien berated himself inwardly. He was no longer an angsty teen who only harbored hatred for his father. During his journey, he'd seen countless hints that his father's situation was far more complicated than he originally thought.
Yet, he couldn't bring himself to accept this fact wholeheartedly after seeing the man himself.
All those bottled-up emotions rushed to his head and controlled his actions. Because of how unexpected the situation was, he was even more susceptible to these urges.
'But…I don't even know his name.'
Wasn't that madness?
It wasn't that he never heard his father's name. His mother didn't mention him much, but she at least told him that much.
The name she'd told Damien was "Michael," but presently, Damien no longer believed in this name.
The secretive man who descended on a world of mortals, had a child, and left without telling anyone surely wouldn't reveal his true name during the process.
'Fuck…'
Just how was he supposed to process this?!
Damien sat silently on the jungle island without moving. He listened to the brushing wind amongst the trees, and the quiet chirping of birds coming from the distance.
He tried to calm his mind in this peaceful climate.
But…
"Haa…haa…haa…"
He clutched his chest in pain.
Breathing was hard. He gasped for breath, but the air didn't seem to go to his lungs.
It was suffocating. It felt like an empty void was forming in his heart and sucking his feelings into it, churning violently and regurgitating his emotions after a full round of chaotically messing with them.
Thoughts didn't form in his head during this time. The desire to be calm was present, but it couldn't gain any ground against this agonizing tightness in his chest.
A panic attack.
After coming so far, he was having a panic attack after meeting his father.
It was embarrassing. He thought he'd already conquered all his trauma, but clearly, some things slipped through the cracks.
The only reason Damien was able to converse normally with his father for those few seconds they spoke was his burning desire to never be weak in front of the man who abandoned him.
But in reality, he was in pain.
How dare he?
How dare he appear here after so long, acting as if nothing happened?
DID HE NOT UNDERSTAND THE PAIN HE CAUSED HIS FAMILY?!
"Haa…"
Damien took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and entered a meditative state as best as he could, becoming in tune with the world and blocking out his surroundings.
This world was mystical. Its laws were far vaguer than the outside world, yet it felt complete in an ethereal and unexplainable way.
This mystery and the slight chaos he felt in the atmospheric fluctuations calmed Damien down more than any peace could.
Even the universe could feel turmoil.
Even the universe had problems it couldn't solve, and even if it mobilized its residents, these problems couldn't be solved.
The difference between Damien and the universe was that he had free will.
When a problem that seemed impossible appeared before him, he could break through it as long as he put in enough effort.
At least, that's what he believed for the majority of his life.
At the end of the day, all things needed balance, including the mind and body. Perhaps the constantly growing mental stress toll on Damien's head was affecting him, making his past trauma worse when it finally decided to strike him.
There was a need to view the situation rationally, and Damien didn't have the time to calm down before doing so.
'Vanish, scourge-like emotions.'
The Mind Prison took effect, and Damien's eyes turned cold.
'He is not here for no reason.'
If he was here merely to visit the son he abandoned, he wouldn't have done so in such a fashion.
At this critical juncture where the war was tilted in nobody's favor and the universe's denizens needed to take initiative, this visit was too coincidental.
'He needs something from me?'
It was a possibility, but if that was truly the reason for his return, Damien had no need to entertain him.
'A catastrophe is approaching?'
While it was more annoying if this was the reason, it wasn't necessarily something Damien could avoid. He'd need to hear the man out.
'In the end, the reason doesn't matter. I still have to talk to him.'
That man was the answer to many of Damien's questions, not just about his origins, but also the universe as a whole.
He couldn't sacrifice such a great opportunity because of his negative feelings.
'But suppressing them is almost impossible. If I must converse with him, I must do it in this state.'
The Mind Prison was an esoteric concept that Damien learned to naturally control over time. He was able to separate portions of his emotions and ego as he pleased to entrap, making the level of indifference he displayed differ based on the situation.
In this situation…
All feelings and emotions were thrown into the prison.
A cold and indifferent Damien stood in reality, his purple eyes dull and robotic.
He walked across the jungle island and flew across the sea to arrive at the cottage.
The man's visage was still present there, unmoving from his position when Damien left.
"Are you finally ready to talk?"
He spoke when he saw Damien approaching, in a far softer tone than before,
However, Damien didn't respond.
After landing on the ground, he stared the man directly in his eyes and wasted no time.
"Tell me who you are, and who I am."
