Once, on a distant planet far in the past, two experts existed.
These two experts were both old monsters who'd exhausted the majority of their lifespans, and in their final moments, these two clashed constantly.
On one side was a man who craved life. He worshipped immortality and did everything he could to stave off death, even using heinous methods to steal the vitality of others to sustain himself.
On the other side was a man who accepted mortality. He understood that death would eventually come for anyone who had yet to step onto the path of Godhood, and he didn't reject it. Rather, he welcomed the end of his life cycle, as it would only signify greater things for the future.
These two experts stood on opposite sides, and their clashes weren't merely using words. They constantly battled until their final moments, when they stood together to finally determine which of them was correct in their thinking.
In that moment, both sides stared death in her eyes…
And the planet went up in flames.
A third party descended into the world and spread destruction across it, enveloping it in darkness.
Within the chaos, a man threw down a lamp. As its glass shattered, the flame within was spread to pollute the world,
Purple-black tongues of flame enveloped existence itself, burning all things to dust.
Except for a single man and the clan that served him.
The flames of death merged with his perception, harmonized with his soul. Rather than being killed by the flames, he and his people received a baptism.
This was the birth of the very first traces of Dark Phoenix Godbeast Bloodline in the universe.
And the mysterious invading race who originally introduced the purple-black flame to the world, this was also when the Dark Phoenix Clan met the Black Dragon Clan and formed its connection.
A boy burned in flames of death.
His eyes were shut tightly, his teeth gritted in pain. He clutched his heart as his body was forcefully transmuted into that of a Dark Phoenix.
That pain remained clear in his head for countless years.
Even when he and his people were forced to flee the universe and hide in a hidden realm for countless years, even when they returned to reality only to realize tens of thousands of years had passed around them, even when he was crowned the Lord of his sacred clan and granted the responsibility of protecting it, that original feeling of pain and purification was forever etched in his memory.
Today, watching it manifested into reality, his emotions were tumultuous.
It was terrifying that such a strange phenomenon could even exist, far sturdier and more tangible than any illusion.
It was almost as if he'd been sent back in time to that very moment.
He looked down at his hands, too small to hold any tool yet long coarse from tireless work.
From here on out, he had to choose between two things.
As a 4th revolution master, his perception allowed him to stay grounded even within this atmosphere and maintain his understanding of reality. If he desires it, he could break out of this illusion and continue fighting for the Black Dragon Clan's cause.
However, if he wanted to, he could seal his senses and submerge himself into this illusion, obtaining the ability to change his bleak past, even if it was only for his own personal satisfaction.
The Death Lord followed the Black Dragons, but more than anything, he followed the will of the Dark Phoenix.
Even after receiving the Dark Phoenix's blessing, the old clan head didn't try to experience nirvana or any sort of material rebirth.
He accepted his death and died contentedly a mere few years after his clan stabilized themselves after the original disaster, not even taking the opportunity to test his new power.
The Death Lord was the 3rd Lord after the old clan head, but the scene he witnessed all those years ago was just as fresh in his mind as the memory it was attached to.
Even when he was a child, he could intuitively understand that the old clan head was wiser than anyone could comprehend. Compared to anyone who succeeded him, perhaps the old clan head was still the man with the greatest affinity for the Dark Phoenix bloodline to ever exist.
As the man titled 2nd to such a being, the Death Lord wanted to understand how his old influence became so detached from the world, and he wanted to understand how the old man viewed it.
If he could understand this truth by experiencing this reconstructed past…
The Death Lord's eyes went to the sky.
It wasn't rare to find opportunities to grow while in battle, but it was almost impossible to find an opponent who'd allow one to properly digest these gains.
From his place above the illusion, Damien quirked his brow.
'That doesn't mean what I think it means, does it?' He wondered.
As a training maniac himself, Damien could very clearly understand the look in the Death Lord's eyes.
However…seriously?!
'It's a little hilarious that he's making a request like that. If I wasn't the same breed, would I have even understood it?'
For a man risking his life to obtain a chance to grow stronger, Damien could only show respect.
And aside from that, they'd yet to properly fight. The Death Lord was strong, but he simply wasn't fast enough to keep up with Damien's pace. As long as he stayed the way he was, he'd be able to keep his life, but fighting back was another story.
'Have I developed a habit of raising my own enemies?' Damien thought to himself, shaking his head wryly.
Damien had always been a man who would never respect strength if it wasn't backed by character and will.
However, the Death Lord had currently shown both strength and will. In terms of character, it was best to say he was lacking any at all.
So, Damien was curious.
'If I leave him be, what kind of use will he have?'
And that's when it struck him.
'That guy…has the Breath of Nothingness polluting his spiritual world. As long as he's submerged his consciousness in the false reality, I can enslave him unimpeded.'
It was an absolute advantage.
And Damien himself had more important things to do if he wanted to end the ongoing conflict as soon as possible.
'Haa…seriously, it's hard to find people as kind as me in this universe.' Damien sighed.
He tapped his finger through the air, creating a layer of dimensional protection around the hidden reality before using a few wisps of the Breath of All Things to make the false reality more stable.
"I hope you can properly utilize this and give me a surprise when I'm back."
Leaving these words to ring in the Death Lord's ears, Damien vanished.
The hidden reality that only a single person would ever experience commenced on its own trajectory.
Not too far away, Astoria's battle continued, but her mind was elsewhere.
She pondered it endlessly, trying to reach for any possible answer she could think of.
Fate…just what in the world was it?
