BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Muffled explosions sounded through the depths, blasting air pockets into the tightly compressed water and disrupting its flow, however, contrary to what one might think, these explosions didn't originate from the environment at all.
Swish!
Damien's body raced deeper and deeper into the Ancestral Dragon Pool, surpassing the 5-kilometer mark quickly and continuing without pause.
As he moved, his body emitted a series of concerning popping noises, each of which was followed by a miniature explosion that rocked the pool.
Right, the explosions weren't an external threat, but rather, the effect of external threats on Damien's internal body.
The underwater current and pressure were both still attacking his external body, but after he crossed the 100-kilometer mark, a new danger joined them.
Small, barely perceptible bubbles rose from the depths. Damien couldn't see them, even with the aid of All-Seeing Eyes. Though ironic, this only meant he was forced to take yet another attack with his bodily strength.
The bubbles were far more dangerous than the other two. Damien couldn't understand the mysteries supporting them, but whenever they came in contact with his body, they'd directly bypass his physical defense and enter his internal body before exploding outward, essentially blasting Damien's organs out of his body.
Transcendent Regeneration worked as fast as possible, and while making sure to conceal it within his body, Damien used a wisp of the Breath of All Things to enhance its effects.
This was how he held up until now, finally reaching 500 kilometers deep in the seemingly endless pool.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His body jerked forward, to the side, and straight down as three explosions rocked his body and threw him off course.
'Huu…'
He wanted to take a deep breath to calm himself down, but he could only do so inwardly. After all, he was currently underwater and unable to mobilize his mana. If he lost control of his breath, he would easily be swept up and suffocated by the currents.
'Do I have to keep descending?' He thought, gazing in the direction he assumed was downward with a frown.
Shik! Shik! Shik!
His body was impaled by multiple razor-sharp water jets. He gritted his teeth and pushed Transcendent Regeneration harder, moving to avoid any incoming projectiles.
'Fuck, I don't even know what I'm doing right now. This is frustrating.'
In the Wild Continent, Damien could act as he pleased because the fallen Emperors were without affiliation or escape, which meant even if they knew his secrets, they couldn't spread them.
Adding to that the fact that Damien took the Wild Continent for himself, he never had to worry about using his Void abilities back then.
The problem here was less about the remnant souls themselves, but their affiliation with the Golden Dragon Clan.
The outside world, the Real Plane, was what he needed to be careful of.
As he hesitated, he failed to notice the lack of attacks he'd faced as he did so.
Around him, the waters stilled.
And Damien finally looked back into the surroundings, his eyes widening in amazement.
Discounting Aquazel, he hadn't spent much time underwater, so Damien was still a stranger to many of the environment's phenomena.
Therefore, the current scene was an amazing novelty even in his eyes,
The 5 meters of space around Damien was still and quiet, almost like the surface of an undisturbed lake.
It was serene, and gave Damien a subtle feeling of moonlight for unknown reasons.
However, outside that small haven was utter chaos.
No light could reach this depth, but the "darkness" in the water still whipped back and forth like a rampaging bull, terrifying storms tearing up the water, and even more terrifying pressure forcing the water to compress to untold levels.
Deadly attacks zoomed around without any target in particular, merely hoping to impact anything before they dispersed, explosive pockets formed thousands of times every second, and just vaguely…
The smoky cyan shadow of a massive dragon revealed itself.
"Yo—"
Damien tried projecting his thoughts, but even that was silenced by the water.
OOOOOOOOH!
RUMBLE!
The dragon shadow let out a cry that reverberated through the water and shook the very foundation of the Ancestral Dragon Pool.
Through the vibrations tearing through the water, a string of words boomed in Damien's ears.
"Act. Without. Resignation. No. Soul. Shall. Witness…No. Soul. Shall. Hear."
Damien's eyes widened.
'This…it couldn't have possibly…!'
Damien wanted to deny it, but there was no way he could just chalk it up to coincidence and move on!
This dragon shadow…definitely knew about his Void Breathing!
'What should I do…'
He wanted to contemplate his options, but how could he be given the time to do that?
Damien watched as the safe zone was rapidly devoured by the outside chaos. He watched it approach him, it's deathly maws hungering for his blood.
There was no time to think.
At this point…
'Agh, I don't even know anymore! Fuck it, let's just go!'
Damien stopped holding back.
VOOM!
The chaotic water flow finally caught up to him, but in that same instant, a terrifying wall of pitch-black mana slammed it back, forcefully taming the chaos.
'You want to see me go all out? Then…'
"COME AT ME!"
Damien roared with all his power. He infused the Breath of Nothingness into his words and forced the atmosphere to accept their presence, causing them to reverberate through the water in every direction, filling the space with his presence.
BANG!
His foot kicked out, pounding into the water like it was solid and using it as a foothold to send him flying deeper yet again.
However, he wasn't going to lose this time.
This time…
XIU! XIU! XIU!
WHOOOOOOOOOSH!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The countless annihilatory forces barraged Damien with fierceness like never before. Yet, he didn't pay them any mind as he pushed forward.
Void Mana raged into the surroundings, dissolving the water's natural mana and devouring it, feeding it to Damien, who then used it to power his Regeneration.
The energy of Devour didn't stop there, though. It spread up into the areas of the pool Damien had already passed through and exploded into a black hole whose vacuum force voraciously consumed everything the water had to offer.
The underwater current was sucked away like a living organism being drawn into a tornado. The pressure also decreased marginally with Devour's interference.
Devour covered the retreat path, while Void Breathing took the role of clearing the path forward.
The Breath of All Things and the Breath of Nothingness were both directly opposite and absolutely the same.
This meant that, while they contradicted each other, they could be used in tandem and would actually boost each other's strengths.
The Breath of All Things pertained to the material. Just as Devour did from the rear, it cleared the water itself of any negative effects and destroyed the deathly phenomena that were awaiting Damien's arrival. As if this wasn't enough, it also imbued the water with positive effects that returned Damien the ability to use his mana freely.
However, he didn't need it anymore.
The Breath of Nothingness pertained to the ethereal. Unlike the other two Void abilities in action, it didn't aid Damien's charge forward at all.
Rather, it snaked through the surroundings, on the prowl for prey.
Its specific purpose, however, wouldn't reveal itself quite yet.
Currently, Damien was 5,000 kilometers deep in the Ancestral Dragon Pool.
And from the looks of it, there would be at least another 5,000 before he could reach its floor.
'Really, if the rewards don't justify this uselessly long journey, I swear I'm going to rage.'
