A pair of eyes turned somewhere deep in the starry sky, their gaze focused on a land almost unseen due to its distance.

An amused light lit up those eyes.

"Sir, is there a problem?" A voice came from the side.

The owner of the eyes smiled lightly.

"Nothing, I just noticed something fun."

The man turned his attention back to the scene in front of him.

"Fire on my command."

He lazily watched the proceeding scenario from his seat. Behind him, a number of eyes watched with him through various devices, though their attention remained mainly on the man.

"Fire."

He gave his command.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three cannon blasts resounded with enough force that they could be heard from within the starship. Beams of brilliant white light shot through space and exploded upon contact with the nearest physical object.

RUMBLE!

Space trembled upon their collision. The enemy starship caught flame and nearly exploded, but an illusory blue film surrounded its chassis and saved it from total destruction.

"Alpha Squad, move in. Beta Squad, watch the right. Their reinforcements have arrived."

The man's voice sounded again, and the forces below him moved on his command. Hundreds of powerful auras lit up the starry sky as they charged into battle.

The man's eyes suddenly closed. Using the starship as a medium to boost his range, he spread his awareness over 1,000,000 kilometers, observing the entirety of the battlefield around him.

It was a nightmare.

The wreckage of countless broken starships littered the empty void. These pieces of debris were being further destroyed by the rampant mana spreading from the deployed troops from both sides.

Hundreds of millions of Lesser Nox infested the area like a plague, almost melding in with the surrounding blackness if it wasn't for their feral charging. Standing against them, an array of universe denizens fought with all their might, keeping the horde away from the main battlefield.

There, tens of starships far eclipsing any others in the area faced each other. The Nox's main force of extreme peak 4th class experts also remained on this battlefield, fighting against the universe's experts.

Chaotic explosions and spatial ruptures filled the starry sky and turned it into a collage of different spatial sections. The atmosphere was becoming so chaotic that a Dead Zone was already on the verge of forming.

Watching this scene, the man's smile grew wider.

'Though it's annoying to maneuver, the creation of these Avatars is truly a blessing from the Dark God. Not only am I able to crush these pests myself, I also got to see something quite interesting.'

He nonchalantly glanced into the corner of the command center where he sat. A man stood there quietly, his body half burnt to a crisp. Yet, he stood silently without showing a single sign of pain.

"Does it hurt?" The man asked.

"No, Master. Since these wounds allowed me to bring you valuable information, they bring me bliss rather than pain."

The response was instant.

"Sometimes I believe you might be too loyal, Sebastian."

"My loyalty was earned by Master. It is an expression of the Saint Emperor's immense charisma."

"You should train your strength rather than your flattery. To lose so miserably to a human child, aren't you embarrassed?"

"..I will accept any punishment Master gives me."

The Saint Emperor turned his head away without responding, facing Calypto once more.

"That child..indeed, Dante will not be that boy's match if they meet too early in the future. Who would have thought that such a treasure would be buried in this measly section universe?"

The Saint Emperor's gaze was lit with greed, lust, and amusement.

"However, isn't this fun? Rather than an opponent for Dante, have I found a future opponent for myself? If I slay him after he grows into that power.."

The Saint Emperor clenched his fist. A wisp of pitch-black mana unconsciously swirled it.

"Heuk..!"

Sebastian coughed in the corner of the room. He felt something in his heart pound, forcing blood up his throat.

"Hahaha, interesting, how interesting!"

His gaze turned cold.

"Sebastian, you understand what you must do, no?"

"Yes, Master. I shall observe the human's growth and keep the Young Master from encountering him."

"Good. If you carry out your duties properly, I shall heal those wounds of yours. For now, you will keep them as a reminder of your failure."

"Yes, Master."

The Saint Emperor's indifferent gaze returned to the battlefield.

"Now, let us remove these pests standing in our way."

As he continued commanding his troops, he clenched his fist.

It was charred, completely crippled.

Arcing on its surface were traces of golden lightning..

..along with a barely-noticeable scent of the Void.

***

Hak!

Hak!

Hak!

"Khhh.."

Blood splattered across the ground. Bits and pieces of organs were strewn about. A man kneeled on the floor and coughed up a copious amount of blood, adding to the vital fluid pouring out of his body.

"FU— HEUK..!"

He wasn't even able to finish his cursing exclamation before another wave of blood climbed up his throat and forced its way out of my body.

'What..is happening?!'

After entering the Sanctuary, Damien immediately placed Zara in the isolated prison space for her safety. Afterwards, he moved to his own personal chamber to deal with his bodily situation.

He barely made it before he completely broke down.

Thump!

"AGH..!"

Losing so much blood made it impossible for him to properly control his body. He collapsed onto the floor and clutched his chest in pain.

Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!

His heart beat violently. His Mana Circuit burned. The only stable area of Damien's existence was his spiritual world.

Luckily, this meant that he could still access his awareness.

Damien's perception spread through his ruined body. Every detail of his internals was revealed to him in full resolution as if he was watching through the most advanced camera in existence.

'This..what..?'

It didn't make sense at all.

The wounds in his body were bad, sure, but the main source of his trouble didn't stem from them. Instead, his body was actively rebelling against and destroying itself.

His blood boiled up and forced its way out of his system, his Mana Circuits collapsed into each other and became a mess, and even his ethereal Mana Circuit began to lose function, desperately sputtering as it tried to evolve to cope with the current situation.

historical

Pui!

Damien spit out another mouthful of blood and dragged himself to a nearby wall. He propped his person up against it and closed his eyes, entering a semi-meditative state.

The pain was unbearable. Damien had endured pain before, but he usually had a reason to put himself in pain, allowing him to endure it easily.

This time, there was no gain, no benefit. There wasn't even a proper reason for his situation.

Sebastian had injured him greatly, and so had Zara, but neither of them had the means to disrupt Transcendent Regeneration and the Ananta Matrix.

Damien circulated his mana carefully, drawing in the atmospheric mana and converting it into his own usable mana, thereafter using this energy to cleanse his Mana Circuit.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as effective as he hoped.

"ARGH!"

The clean mana he absorbed clashed with his existing mana and worsened his bodily situation. The Anata Matrix began to crack, the Mana Veins in his body shattering into countless pieces.

"Haa..haa.."

With every attempt he made, his internal situation only became more confusing.