The transformation wasn't meant to fully convert one's body into an entity of nothingness. To do so meant erasing everything other than the nothingness itself and would merely destroy any semblance of what a person was.
This procedure was designed so that Nonexistence could find its own place within the physical body and soul. It aided practitioners in reaching a state where their bodies could house both Existence and Nonexistence without drawbacks.
For those whose Existence was much stronger, it would take a much longer time to come out of the waters. One's body could refuse to adapt to the Nonexistence, and they could also be restricted by whatever they saw when they entered the lakes.
There were many factors that trapped hundreds of thousands of people in the darkness, refusing to let them go.
Damien was not one of those people. His Void Soul easily housed Nonexistence without needing to change, and his body was the same. In total, it only took three days for Damien to speak to the Void and then finish his transformation.
He was immediately ejected from the lake when that time came. His body returned to its previous position, cross-legged on the shore.
However, he did not stand up or exit his meditative state.
As he confirmed that he was moving towards the Void, his goals changed.
Of course, Damien was still using this realm to learn Nonexistence, but he had to take the external situation back into mind. The moment he left, his war with the Dark God would begin. He only had a little bit of time before he had to confront that man directly.
While he was in this realm where time didn't exist, he needed to get as strong as possible. That entailed not just training Nonexistence, but Existence as well.
Sitting on the shore, Damien summoned the energy of the Void again. As he swore on the third island, he could no longer use Existence in the Land of Nothingness, but that didn't stop him from connecting to it.
Problems would only arise if he manifested it externally.
What Damien wanted to do now was check on the relationship between his Existence and Nonexistence. Their individual levels were different. The goal was to balance them and make them equal in every aspect.
'It's actually more complex than I thought.'
Damien thought Existence would easily win as he'd spent more time with it, but he was wrong.
Existence had more strength. He knew how to use it with more proficiency and power.
However, his connection with Nonexistence was stronger. While it may not have been able to match Existence in raw strength, it was more willing to respond to Damien and exert his will.
He could tell that he had no more need to train in Existence, which meant that its current strength level was the metric he needed to use to improve Nonexistence.
In the same way, Nonexistence getting any closer to him would be inconsequential in terms of material benchmarks. If he wanted to improve it to match Existence, all he needed to do was continue training on this island and the fifth island before leaving.
But to get closer to Existence…
The unique environment was what allowed Damien to form a bond with Nonexistence. If not for Death's Hold, its origin, being housed in this realm, he wouldn't have ever realized that the concepts could display emotions in their own unique ways.
The origin of Existence was somewhere in the material plane, but Damien didn't have access to it. It would already be too late when he got there, so using the same method was out of the question.
'If I want to get creative and find a way to access it…'
All Damien needed was an entry point. If he could find one, then the rest was up to his own skill and abilities. Even if he failed, he could keep trying.
Oddly enough, Existence was far harder to reach than its nonexistent counterpart. While it was in the light, it was so unfathomably massive that it was practically unknown.
There was a clear image of Nonexistence, no matter how vague it was. To picture Existence personified… Damien just couldn't find a way to do it.
'It's a task too large for the human mind.'
No matter how strong he became, that would remain true. As long as he wasn't Absolute, he would not be able to truly comprehend the scale of Existence.
So, to find a more roundabout way to meet with its personification, Damien had to think outside of the box.
He opened his eyes slightly, looking at the waters in front of him.
It might have been the answer.
He stood up, preparing to step back into the waters of nothingness.
Almost like he was stuck in a time loop, a voice came from behind him.
However, this time, he ignored it.
"You cannot go back! If you return, you will truly be consumed!"
It seemed the woman had seen a greedy practitioner die in the past and wanted to keep him from experiencing the same fate. But, Damien's greed was different.
Nonexistence was not the target of his avarice. It was merely a medium. He took a single step into the water and his entire body sunk deep below the surface.
He could hear the woman's cry from beyond, but it also didn't mean anything to him. Her compassion was unwarranted.
The blackness consumed his mind and body. It was trying to turn him into a true manifestation of nothingness.
A pitch-black energy even deeper in color than the waters covered his physical form, making it impossible for Nonexistence to do as it pleased.
Meanwhile, Damien actually allowed his soul to continue the merger.
His entire being became one with the nothingness. His mind became its, and for a moment, he himself was a face of Nonexistence wandering in the Void.
His ego was hidden deep within his soul, protected from the force of erasure. His soul acted on the instinctive command he left for it, wandering and wandering until it found its target.
The only way to approach Existence in a form that nobody had ever seen before was to become the only concept that had ever seen it.
Damien, as Nonexistence itself, approached the light of Existence.
Thousands of faces followed him as he approached. When his actions were noticed, those thousands became millions and billions.
The entirety of the concept of Nonexistence rallied behind Damien's soul and approached the border that separated them from their sibling. They pleaded, making a case for him. The light of Existence seemed uninterested at first, ignoring the words and cries.
However, as they continued, even the concept that never knew anything other than indifference was forced to experience curiosity for the first time.
It was being approached in its purest form by a sentient being supported by its counterpart.
Almost begrudgingly, it opened a path.
Damien's soul was forcefully disconnected from Nonexistence as the concept pushed him into the arms of Existence. His ego came back to the light, and the first thing it saw…
The true face of the one known as "Existence."