"Ask me anything. I will answer what I can."
This was Dante's declaration. As long as he was able to help, he would do everything he could with the few minutes he had.
Damien furrowed his brows. In this situation, there were many things he wanted to ask about, but he needed to pick and choose.
'I would like to know more about the Heavenly World, but I doubt he'll tell me. If so, I should prioritize things that will help more in the short run…'
There were a few items left on the list after Damien narrowed it down, but the number was far less than it was before.
And as he finalized his questions, his mind also calmed.
Once Damien realized that the Dante Void he was currently talking to was a projection, he was able to cope much easier.
After all, this was a "fake" image of his father. Back on Apeiron, during the illusion trial of the Eternal Secret Realm's Legacy Tombs, Damien faced another face of his father like this one.
As long as he thought of this avatar as a more advanced version of that projection, his mind didn't feel so chaotic.
He was able to put his feelings aside and focus on what was important.
As such, his first question was simple.
"Tell me everything you know about the Nox."
The most imminent threat and the great enemy Damien had been facing since the beginning of his journey, now that they'd gotten a hold of some of his secrets, he couldn't go without information on them.
"Nox, aye…" Dante muttered with a distant look. "It looks like those pests are still up to no good."
"Well, even I am not completely aware of the Nox's origins. From what I learned through my travels long ago, the Nox's homeworld is a mysterious land in the Abyss called Al'Katra…"
Dante went on to explain everything he knew about Nox society to Damien. For the most part, it didn't vary much from the information Zara learned through her bloodline memories.
The Nox were cannibals who grew stronger by devouring their own kin, and they had a unique species trait to pass bloodline memories down through generations to raise Higher Nox to full intelligence and train them.
The hierarchy of Nox society was strange. From what Dante knew, there weren't many different distinctions.
All Lesser Nox were regarded the same, as nothing more than cannon fodder to send to battle when necessary. The Higher Nox who'd yet to completely develop their intelligence were only slightly above these Lesser Nox. Because of their lack of intuitive ability, they couldn't be used to carry out complex orders.
Higher Nox could follow two routes to gain status after their intelligence was established. Firstly, they could follow a path of blood to grow in strength on the battlefield. And secondly, they could follow the path of scholars, becoming supreme geniuses that stood above the heavens with their minds alone.
This fact was especially surprising to Damien. The Nox he'd met so far were all following the slaughter path, which was natural since they were participating in the war.
Those Nox who followed the scholar path…
'Were they the ones who planned the total destruction of the Elven Domain?'
Even considering the Nox's surprise element, taking an entire Sector before reinforcements could arrive was unfathomable. It wasn't a feat that could be accomplished with power alone.
There must've been a genius strategist behind that attack.
'As for the matters of Eden, I don't know whether the scholars have a greater plan or if they took their hands off the situation for now. I can only find out with time.'
The scholar path was difficult to cultivate, and could only show its true prowess in the later realms. Most likely, the scholar controlling the current war was a Demigod perhaps even at the Emperor level.
Emperors were the highest authorities of the Nox, only standing below the Dark God, the spiritual god that the Nox worshipped. Its existence had yet to be proven.
Under the Emperors were Lords like Plaguelord, and the Nox under them were usually not assigned status until they arrived on the battlefield.
There was no such thing as long-term camaraderie amongst the Nox. At any moment, they were willing to turn against their allies for more power.
Especially since, in some sense, they were all a single massive entity.
"Their reproduction method is unknown and extremely mysterious, but with the way they're able to merge after death and be reborn, I believe that they have a system akin to a hivemind, at least until the Demigod level," Dante said.
Damien sighed as he learned more and more about the Nox.
The existence and habits of their race were so peculiar that it genuinely stumped his brain. He felt like he wouldn't be able to fully understand them unless he went to Al'Katra himself.
But that wasn't something he could do quite yet.
He had to join the warfront as soon as possible, and after about a year or so, the Grand Assembly would start, and he'd finally be able to reunite with his loved ones.
At least until that reunion was properly over, he couldn't leave for an indiscernible amount of time to find Al'Katra.
Damien closed his eyes and processed everything he learned.
If there was one thing that was certain, it was that the Nox's laws were in fact based on Death Laws, but they themselves weren't a variant of Death Laws.
There was something deeper that needed to be investigated, especially with the existence of such a strange system like Demonic Providence. This type of power simply didn't exist in nature.
'That means it isn't a product of Grand Heavens Boundary, which operates on the natural law. Does the Abyss have its own universal law? Or maybe there is some other secret in the Abyss that I've yet to discover…? Now that I think about it, the Abyssal Corridor that originally dragged me to the Divine Realm also seems to have a connection to the Abyss…'
Damien shook his head lightly and cleared his thoughts.
'With the memories I devoured on Calypto and Zara's help, I should be able to get a clearer picture based on the foundation Dante has given me. I think…'
"You're done asking about those pests?" Dante commented with a smile.
Damien nodded. "This is more than enough information for now. It would've been nice to know a weakness, but if one had been found, we wouldn't be in such a dire situation."
"Hahaha, dire, you say. Mm, it can truly be called that. Pests like them are the hardest to get rid of, and even after you get rid of them they always find a way to come back. It's quite the annoying predicament, isn't it?" Dante said with an odd smile.
He snapped out of his strange daze soon and returned to the topic at hand. "Well then, is there anything else you want to know?"
Damien hesitated for a second. "I…I want to know about your power, and the power of the Celestial Class."
Dante's eyes widened, and a grin spread across his face. His excitement seemed to soar higher than the heavens.
After all…
"I've been waiting for you to ask."
He'd been waiting too long to give his son a lesson.
