A master at the end of his 9 revolutions.
What sort of strength had such a person attained?
Damien had seen those Demigods who could crush half a planet with a casual swipe of the hand, but how far away were those monstrous existences from those on the cusp of reaching that level?
It was unfortunate that one would never know unless they asked a Demigod to convey their experience. After all, Demigods were only allowed to engage in combat with other Demigods.
It was incredibly rare to see them battle.
Nevertheless, the integration of Laws and the defining of one's self were two of the key points of the 9 revolutions.
And when one had done so to such a complete level that they were titled a Supreme…
Something like a level couldn't limit their power by much.
The intricacies of their laws were far beyond what a mere level could represent.
Behind Arthur, a towering phantom image of a bloody red emperor manifested itself. Several hundred thousand kilometers around the two fighters were suddenly dyed red. An oddly viscous atmosphere was formed as Arthur raised his arm.
Damien's eyes sharpened.
'I have to dodge!'
Arthur brought his hand down with force. The projection behind him followed his movements, slamming its continent-sized hand down on Damien's position.
"…!"
Damien's eyes widened in shock at the rapid expansion of the phantom. With the speed of that palm, even his instant teleportation would be too slow to avoid it!
'One With Dimension.'
Damien closed his eyes and melded with the folds of the universe.
The palm crashed down onto his position in the exact same instant.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Space shattered and time became chaotic. The sheer physical power of the palm ruptured the dimension itself, causing gruesome tears to spread for millions of kilometers on end.
"Keuk…!" Damien coughed in pain as his body was shot out of the dimensional layers. When his hiding place was directly collapsed, how could he be fine?
The chaotic twisting of the dimension ruptured several of his organs before it spat him out, but he wasn't too worried about the injury.
Instead, he needed to figure out how to move forward!
Arthur was far more powerful than expected, but it wasn't out of the scope that Damien could handle.
Damien firmed his gaze and teleported. Mirage swung through the air as he moved, cutting through all things before he even left the spatial layers.
'Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance'
The thin black line cut through space and time, forming an all-consuming void as it arrived before Arthur within a spark of a second.
Arthur's eyes widened when he sensed the dangerous fluctuations coming from the attack.
He raised his arms and crossed them, pouring mana into them and forming a pair of blood-red gauntlets on his fist.
Skreeeee!
The sound of metal screeching against metal rang out as the attack struck Arthur's defenses.
Shing!
The mana gauntlets were cut away with the dimension in an instant. The slash continued on its way until…!
Clang!
The sound of impact wasn't what Damien expected at all.
'Right, he's a fucking Supreme.'
Damien clicked his tongue in realization.
Even if his level was lowered…would his physical defense be constrained?
Damien was more aware than anyone else of how unreliable stats were. Even if his defense stat itself was lowered to a common level 399 who hadn't entered the next phase, his true defense definitely exceeded a 2nd revolution master!
'I need to take this more seriously.' Damien thought to himself.
He was fighting a Supreme, so he had to be cautious regardless of the restrictions.
But if he kept hiding his cards, this battle would drag on for an eternity.
And though in normal circumstances this was an advantage for Damien…
He sensed it from the corner of his perception.
It started less than a minute ago.
The Fate Clouds that dutifully obscured Beast Emperor Star within their embrace…
…were thinning.
***
It didn't take much for a war to start.
Benefits, if even one side could sense them, it was inevitable that conflict would occur.
And when such conflict occurred, there was no need for something like words.
The Gold and Black Dragon Clans had been enemies for centuries, millennia, it was a relationship that couldn't be corrected regardless of how much time passed.
When the two sides met during these troubled times, blood was bound to be shed.
The current war was no different.
Tens of millions of troops met each other in the air and on the ground. The combined effect of their clashes shook the world itself, spreading a wave of panic through the common people.
However, regardless of what damages they caused, the world would not fall.
After all, there was a Demigod focusing on holding it together.
With the strength of the Golden Dragon Clan, fighting the Black Dragon Clan was relatively even. Both sides were being slaughtered at essentially the same rate, and it didn't look like this war would come to a satisfying end.
Elena watched it from the sidelines, disinterested in participating in a clash like this.
She was sure of it.
The Black Dragon Clan had greater numbers yet were moving as if to match their enemies.
They were stalling.
She became sure of this conclusion after observing for many minutes, and almost instinctively, she deployed her Valhalla Souls to investigate.
At this time…
15 minutes had passed.
"Phase 3 has begun! I repeat, Phase 3 has begun!"
A report resounded in the ears of every Black Dragon, living or dead,
And as if planned from the start, each and every one of them palmed their chests, activating a secret mechanism that directly teleported them away from the battlefield.
'This…' Elena thought as a sinking feeling enveloped her.
Rumble!
The earth shook.
But this time, there was no battle to provoke it.
All around Beast Emperor Star, unbeknownst to anyone, canisters and devices activated as one.
Rain…began to pour from the sky.
It was a beautiful golden rain, a shower of auspicious blessings.
It was a rain pouring down from the Fate Clouds.
But…
It was odd.
Why was there a trace of eerie black within that rain?
RUMBLE!
The earth rumbled again, this time with intensity great enough to knock 4th class soldiers off their feet.
Elena's face paled as her awareness picked up a fluctuation.
Rather, countless fluctuations filled her perception from every angle.
Beasts…were gathering.
Red-eyed, frenzied beasts that didn't look anything like the civilized beast population that resided on this star.
Elena's eyes suddenly darted to the ground below.
Those Golden Dragon Clan members with weaker strength…
Their eyes turned red. Their mana flared into the surroundings as one, but their killing intent clashed intensely.
Under the horrified gazes of the middle-stage or higher masters present.,.
A frenzied melee began.
"Stop them immediately!" Elena roared, reacting instantly.
She pushed her mana and rapidly propelled herself to the ground, slamming down with immense force.
Her hands came together in a praying motion. The World Tree Yggdrasil revealed its fangs behind her.
A holy white light blanketed several tens of thousands of kilometers as Elena opened her eyes.
"Goddess' Blessing."
The miraculous effects of her mana were obvious to see.
With Elena's aid, the small patch of land where the Golden Dragon Army was located...
Became one of the only havens on Beast Emperor Star.