'…now what?'
Damien stood alone in the small realm, and while he'd just made a major promise to himself…
…he didn't quite have a method to leave this realm and enter the true Celestial Realm.
'What a grand start.' Damien thought wryly as he plopped down in one of the outdoor rotundas surrounding the small hut.
Perhaps his mind was still too confused from the sudden encounter that'd just ended.
Despite how long it felt, his father's avatar had only been present for around 20 minutes, and Damien spent half of those minutes building his courage to actually face the man.
'Hahaha…even if it's something I overcame, it's a little pathetic.'
He shook his head and stopped berating himself. It was yet another pointless action.
Now that his father was gone again, Damien found himself bearing a different weight than before.
'That projection had answers, but couldn't give them to me. The only way to truly find out what I want to know is to explore on my own and break Dante out of his imprisonment.'
It was an insane goal, especially considering that Dante's enemies were all Gods, but Damien didn't shirk away from it.
Instead, he embraced his newfound destiny.
A path forward was always important to have. A practitioner could wander aimlessly for countless years if they veered off their path, perhaps never finding their way back.
Of course, everyone's path was of their own creation, but many refused to follow the path that their destiny and efforts culminated, and many more strayed from their paths for more dire reasons.
Damien lost his path when he was forced into the Divine Realm, but as he connected further with the war and became more active in the universe, he found the path before him becoming clearer and clearer.
Dante gave Damien the final piece he needed to complete that puzzle.
A rough framework formed in Damien's mind.
'But currently, the progress examination is still ongoing. I have three months…'
Damien's eyes sharpened.
He made the decision to leave Hidden Death Valley before even returning, but he didn't know how to use the 3 months of buffer he had before he could exit the Celestial Realm.
'It's not ideal to gain more power at the moment, especially since I still have to stabilize my Samsara Intent and internalize the new power Dante granted me. I also need to implement the new Celestial methods he taught me. Even if there are opportunities in the Celestial Realm, they aren't fated for me.'
Besides, there could be no opportunity greater than a gift from a God himself.
'Then…should I make a final splash before making my way out…?'
Damien looked into the night sky with a small grin on his face.
In the next second, he vanished.
When he reappeared he was in Theavil. The clean atmosphere around him cleansed his soul, and the feeling of control in his hands refreshed his mind.
But his goal today wasn't refreshment. He teleported once more and appeared inside an isolated log cabin in the woods somewhere in the world.
Here, only a single resident stayed.
"Enjoying your new life?" He asked with a smile.
"A very apt line for a kidnapper to say to his victim, don't you think?" The woman living in the cabin replied sarcastically.
"Come on, now. If you really felt that way, you would've tried rebelling already. It's actually a little funny to me how quickly you adapted to your new circumstances."
The woman turned her head towards Damien, revealing her beautiful features. She was none other than Bianca, the Bloodlock slave he'd fought during his 10th match in the King Bracket.
'Her attitude makes me regret my decision.' Damien thought wryly.
That day in the battle arena, Damien didn't have a single thought of killing her. His showy usage of Dimensional Severance and the disappearance of her life signature were merely facades he set to fool the public.
At that time, he'd viewed the Bloodlock Clan as a major enemy, and he couldn't let the enemy realize he'd caught himself an informant, could he?
"So? What did you come here for this time?" Bianca asked, changing the subject.
"Ah, that. Well, I was just wondering how credible you are since the situation you talked about hasn't happened yet."
"And that's my fault?" Bianca rolled her eyes. "I only predicted the course of action that Reavus would take. Do you think I'm a prophet or something?"
Damien chuckled at her blatant disregard for his words. "Hahaha, I'm just messing with you. Truth be told, the forces he sent after me probably died before they could even reach me. The situation on Calypto was a little…special, after all."
Bianca sighed. "You look like a devil laughing at that."
"I'd say I'm pretty normal compared to your former young master, though?"
"Touché."
Many months ago, Damien visited Bianca to inquire about the Bloodlock Clan's situation. At that time, the former enforcer warned him that Reavus would likely send an assassination squad after him, since he would finally be away from the academy's protection.
Unfortunately, Damien never had the chance to meet this assassination squad.
'The most probable situation is that they couldn't reach me after seeing how heavily Heaven's Army decided to protect me.'
During the first few months of the mission, their lack of contact was likely because the assassination squad landed on a different continent than them. After that, however…
'Did Park Jinho and them secretly deal with them…? Or maybe the squad was just killed in action before reaching me…?'
It wasn't impossible. The Nox on Calypto were all high-level, with even a few late-stage 4th class beings among them. For an assassination squad built to take out an early-level 4th class, this level of threat was evidently too much.
Damien's thoughts swam as Bianca reiterated what she'd told him months prior when he first visited her.
Convincing her to be an informant didn't take long considering her situation. Her only worry was a certain blood seal that prevented her from spreading information, but due to the Sanctuary's existence being wholly separate from the Real Plane, the seal couldn't affect her inside.
This was the same principle Damien used to recruit Lucius.
Nevertheless, according to Bianca, Reavus Bloodlock was never the type of person to take a grudge lying down. Since Damien was still alive after offending him, the arrogant young master would take any necessary measures to take him down.
"The problem is, you destroyed so many forces at the Emperor Bone Sea that his actions were being watched by his father. He wasn't going to get any more second chances if he messed up again. If you really didn't encounter the assassination squad, you'll either be targeted during the progress examination, or Reavus is already on his last legs."
Damien rubbed his chin in thought. "Still, the forces he has access to shouldn't be insanely powerful, right? He's not even the Crown Prince."
"Rather than power, it's more a matter of numbers. My position as an enforcer wasn't high or low, so I only know a little bit. All I know for certain is that he only has a single extreme peak 4th class servant who stands by his side at all times."
Damien smiled at her revelation. It was absolutely impossible for Reavus to bring an extreme peak 4th class servant into the Celestial Realm with him. And without that extreme peak master…
'This is the perfect stage for me.'
Damien grinned savagely.
Reavus lost his use after the events of Calypto. Damien didn't need a whetstone to grow anymore.
Therefore, it was finally time to clean up the trash.
…after he figured out how to leave the small realm.
