Void Evolution System

Damien's face was currently decorated with a massive frown.

Foreign Races, and ones that wanted to capture, not kill.

Damien was already irked that they'd managed to surround him without him sending them.

The fact that they had some sort of plan that he didn't know about, one that somehow related to him, was even worse.

Judging from their auras, they were all Gods. That didn't worry Damien, but it made it difficult for him to kill and devour one to find information.

With Duke Horacio trying to make a conversation out of things, Damien was given a moment to thoroughly understand his situation.

'Those four…same level as the other Count.'

No, they were definitely stronger, but to the current Damien, they might as well have been at Count Verex's level.

'It won't be hard even if there's four of them.'

Damien was currently ignoring a yapfest from Duke Horacio, but from what made it into his ears, he was saying something about capturing him and eliminating him.

'Anomaly?'

That was the only word that stood out, but Damien didn't really care about it right now.

'How do I get out of this?'

The first thing he did was check his connection with the Sanctuary.

'As always.'

It was cut off. But this time, the reason was more tangible.

The barrier that enveloped the wide area around him was the only reason why his connection with any and all outside worlds was gone.

That also meant that as long as he broke the barrier, he'd be able to escape easily.

'That's a viable plan.'

Fighting them all and winning might've been possible, but he couldn't do it without causing an unnecessary commotion.

'Judging from the strength of this party, they've relatively guessed my strength level. It's fine if it's been revealed to the Foreign Races, but until I'm certain that Straea knows as well, I can't take risks.'

It was a rare time when Damien was lacking information. Without it, he was unable to move as he pleased.

Still, a direct confrontation that led to a massive battle that destroyed the entire Frostbound Mountain Range wasn't what Damien wanted right now.

That could wait for another time.

Right about now…

Duke Horacio stopped talking. Looking into Damien's eyes, it was clear that the man had stopped listening a long time ago.

"Nevertheless, Damien Void, come with us nicely. Do not force me to do something I really want to do."

Duke Horacio had a large smile on his face. This was an assured victory in his book.

That was why he continued to get closer to Damien, despite the dangers of approaching an enemy.

He didn't care if he lost his advantage, because he didn't believe that his advantage could be lost.

Was that a flaw?

Not necessarily, since, in a sense, he was correct.

However, that didn't mean Damien wouldn't try to exploit it.

Duke Horacio took another step.

Damien's eyes flickered.

'Now.'

His ultimate goal was the barrier, but he couldn't let the enemy know that.

He planted his foot in the ground and drew upon his mana. Not that of Existence, but that of the countless laws he'd practiced to perfection over his lifetime.

His choice in this moment was Cosmic Duality, the combination of Creation and Destruction.

The two laws didn't combine well. Unlike their lesser counterparts, Creation and Destruction were more like two sides of the same coin, rather than two agents that blended together perfectly.

It was hard to combine them at all. That combination didn't even have a name. "Cosmic Duality" was the system's attempt to create one for the otherwise unseen phenomenon.

So what kind of moves could Damien make with such a combination?

The answer was actually something terrifying.

A power that could both create and destroy in one breath?

That was simply a recipe for disaster.

The creation of force and its immediate destruction would create an impossibility, a situation where energy was truly destroyed, leaving only emptiness.

That phenomenon erupted right in front of Duke Horacio's face, and whether one was there to witness it or not, anyone could agree that it wasn't fun for the man at all.

There was no sound. The sound that would have been there was consumed by the created vacuum.

Even sound from the surroundings was sucked in like it was a black hole.

All of a sudden, the space within the barrier went absolutely silent.

And within the second, all that silence filled itself again.

ROOOOAAAAAAAAR!

The pure amount of sound coagulated into a furious roar that rocked the eardrums of all those present.

The 4 Counts and 10 Viscounts didn't even know what happened.

Only Duke Horacio saw that phenomenon.

And his eyes widened into saucers as he realized what was about to hit him.

A thick barrier of malakh immediately surrounded his body, blocking him away from the outside world.

It was a solid defense, especially since it was put up in a split second.

However, it wasn't enough.

BANG!

The phenomenon struck Duke Horacio's chest. Despite the lack of sound, the Duke felt like he could hear the impact resounding in his ears.

His chest caved in, and he was sent flying. Black blood flew out of his mouth as he gritted his teeth.

It was only a single instant, but Damien had made his stance clear.

"So you've chosen the hard way."

Duke Horacio wiped the blood from the side of his mouth, ignoring the cacophonous roar reverberating through the air.

"Then the hard way it is."

He was more than happy to fight.

VOOOOOOOOM!

Malakh flooded the atmosphere. It was unnatural in the Heavenly World, so the instant it appeared, the Heavenly Order reacted.

Duke Horacio didn't care. The barrier was in place half to keep Damien contained and half to keep the Heavenly Order out.

It couldn't stop him from doing what he wanted to do as long as he was inside.

Malakh functioned differently from mana. The Foreign Races' power was the same.

Just as the Nox relied on Demonic Providence to fight more than law, the Foreign Races had a similar concept.

Each and every one of them had a unique power that was somewhat derivative of law.

In Duke Horacio's case, this power was something akin to telekinesis, though, at a far higher level.

The instant he raised his arm, the never-ending blizzard paused in place. The snow and ice that usually raced through the air became blades under the Duke's control.

Their target was clear.

Damien frowned, glancing around as his environment became an enemy.

'Four behind.'

They still hadn't moved, but they were getting ready to. He could sense it in their body movements.

'One in front.'

Duke Horacio may have been controlling the air, but his body was still ready and able to attack alongside the wide-area maneuver he had prepared.

'Ten in the surroundings.'

Those ten were upholding the barrier. Damien managed to sense them through the attack he'd sent out earlier. They were his main targets.

'Okay.'

It was only a brief moment, but while he thought, it was slowed to the point where it felt like minutes had passed by the time he was done.

The situation was not uncontrollable.

That was all that mattered.

He'd taken note of it all.

And once he had…

Time sped up to its normal pace.

And all those attacks that were being prepared a moment ago were sent out in unison.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!