Chaos' self-destruction was insane, truly.
When facing it personally, Damien could guarantee that he wouldn't have been able to do anything if he wasn't breaking the realm's laws. Genuinely, the only reason he was able to contain that force on his own was because of Existence.
Still, he did it and he did it easily, planting a permanent memory of his face in Chaos' mind. The current iteration of the Spiritual God was dead. Damien was planning to check his original containment unit to scatter any remaining traces of him as well.
However, the third island had been too far entrenched in the cycle of order and chaos. Eventually, people would once again feel discontent with peace and the creation of a new Spiritual God would begin.
Damien only made sure that the Spiritual God who was born would remember what happened to its predecessor and hide itself. The rest was up to the temples and their masters to figure out.
There really wasn't a need for Damien to go to the Eternal Sanctum. The Prison Master was free of his chains at last, so he didn't have to worry about the escaped Chaos Faction members.
In fact, when he arrived at the prison, the Area Lord was already gone. It was clear that he'd gone to chase them from the moment he realized that he was free.
He just wasn't a fan of the island's methods.
He couldn't find a better solution to the problem, as none had been able to utilize Nonexistence to eternally kill another in any situation. While he was using Existence, though, he was going to make the problem much smaller.
That way, it would take at least another few billion years for chaos to take hold once again.
He entered the prison while its warden was away. Its prisoners did not react to his presence, likely because they'd seen many strange visitors recently.
Were they expecting what Damien was planning to do? Definitely not. If they were, then they wouldn't have been so calm.
'Hmm… I can't keep wantonly breaking the realm laws. I may have eaten that one face of Nonexistence, but it won't be fun if I keep offending the concept.'
In the end, he didn't want Nonexistence as a whole to see him as an enemy, nor did he want to dominate it through force.
As such, this was the last thing he could do before putting Existence away.
From the beginning, he was able to distinguish between the good and the bad people in the prison. There was a decent percentage of the population that was reformed by the system. They wanted to leave and resume their peaceful lives in places far separated from the things they did in the past.
The prison was too much for them. It tortured them until they broke, and when they broke, they became rational humans again.
Now, the system was still flawed. The number of those who went insane and only kept themselves alive through their desires for vengeance and blood was far, far higher. Those people were the roots of Chaos.
If it weren't for the fact that their souls were already atrocious before they were placed in the prison, then Damien could absolutely call their punishment cruel and unusual.
A certain level of degeneracy was necessary to hold a grudge for such a long time without ever-changing, and just like Chaos, those people were terrible for the island's ecosystem.
Thus, as Damien positioned himself as judge, jury, and executioner, he deemed that they deserved to die.
His senses spread and registered every single person in the prison. They were then sorted and categorized. Nothing more needed to be explained.
Damien carried out their sentences right then and there. Leaving a note for the Prison Master when he returned about the reformed prisoners who remained, he left the Eternal Sanctum entirely.
Finally, he returned to Terra and met up with his clone body. 'Now that I think about it, I technically used Existence and Nonexistence at the same time.'
He only pulled it off because he had two bodies, but it was still a considerable accomplishment.
And, more importantly in the current moment, as the two of them merged together, his badge glowed and changed.
It went straight to the platinum level and then ascended once more, disappearing into flecks of white light. 'Good.'
He could now leave the island whenever he wanted. That moment was pretty much now, but he couldn't quite go.
He pulled his clone body away quickly, but he was actually in the middle of a meeting with the three Temple Masters. Now that they'd merged, he was the one who had to take care of it.
Mostly, it was only for them to thank him. While Damien went to the Eternal Sanctum, Damien explained everything to the Temple Masters. They finally learned that Chaos itself was the cause of everything, and though he didn't explain how, he made it clear that Chaos was gone for the time being.
The city was brought back to its original state after only a few hours. Reversing change was easy in a place where change itself was not meant to happen.
The damage to the population was still evident, but the Temple Masters were experienced in dealing with public affairs. They broadcasted a message across the entire island and truthfully revealed that Chaos was the cause of everything.
They told of the massive plan that was set into motion because it was destroyed before ever coming to fruition. And, they framed Damien as a great hero, giving the people a figure to rally around so they could maintain hope.
Of course, Damien was leaving soon, but it was fine as long as his actions inspired someone else to take his place. Until then, he was sure that the Temple Masters would be able to handle any troubles that arose.
This incident taught them a lot. They proved themselves as people who truly cared for their populace. That was enough to guarantee that they would change for the better.
Damien had some slight attachments to this island, but he was not sad about leaving it behind. He was happy with what he'd experienced thus far and he was ready to move on.
After staying for a few more days to oversee the peacekeeping efforts, he bid farewell to the few people he'd become acquainted with before approaching the shore.
Now, he could officially say that he was more than halfway done with the trials of this land.
And from his experiences on the third island, he was sure that the hardest had already passed.
'Yeah, I'm not doing that again.'
One large conflict in this realm was enough. From now on, Damien wanted to focus only on himself.
As he stepped onto the fourth island for the first time, he realized that the islands were supporting his thoughts.
After all, this island's test was exclusively reserved for individual participants. Its inhabitants were busy with their trials, leaving the island itself desolate.
The island catered to Damien a lot more than its predecessors. It was an island where one was required to bathe in the liquids of emptiness and have their bodies baptized. This process could take a very long time for some, and those who could not adapt would be forever entrapped in the darkness.
'So, pretty much, I'm not going to encounter another person for a while.'
Damien left the shores and immediately approached the lakes of emptiness. If it was about being accepted and molded by Nonexistence, he was confident that he could leave this island within an incense stick of time. He raised his foot to take his first step into the waters…