'They're so friendly with each other.'
Not just the mist and the owl, but Existence and Nonexistence. As the two stayed in his body together, they got along quite well. The Void didn't even have to show its presence to quell them.
It was likely because Damien raised them in tandem. Existence helped with his comprehension of Nonexistence and vice versa. They were not strangers, but allies who had been side by side for some time.
They were friendly. They were so friendly.
'But why won't the two of you just merge?'
Damien sighed to himself. He had really only been trying for three days or so, but he had used every single second of every single hour trying to bring them together. If he saw any progress at all, then three days would be too short of a time period for him to be complaining.
However, there was nothing.
There was an extremely fine line between their yin and yang. It was a line made up of empty space that contained neither Existence, Nonexistence, or the Void.
Of course, if the Void came into play here, it could easily put these forces together. The only problem was that this was the final step to reach the Void. It naturally wasn't going to lend its aid.
That tiny space that was imperceptible to the eye was the root of Damien's problems.
Let alone getting the two forces to merge, he couldn't even convince them to cross that line and interact.
In a real-world application, it worked something .
Damien could use Existence alone flawlessly. He could use Nonexistence alone flawlessly. When he tried to wield them both together, he encountered issues. He could barely maintain Existence in his right hand and Nonexistence in his left.
To do so, he could only separate their flows so their paths didn't intersect at any point between where their force was mobilized and his palms.
If they were truly willing to cross that line, he would be able to wield them side by side just as flawlessly.
But, that was the next step. From where he was, that was the only step separating him from the end goal.
No matter how much he wanted it to be accomplished, he could do nothing but continue in his practice and hope that they eventually found their balance.
It wasn't much time, but if he couldn't do it before the deadline, then the best way for him to improve would be through battle. His fight with the Dark God would be the logical next step regardless.
For the moment, Damien decided to put everything down.
He was dealing with grand things all the time, so the war on the horizon had been fully digested in his mind and didn't cause him any worry.
However, it was still a war with the fate of the cosmos on the line. Everyone had their own thoughts about it.
He had only been in his isolated training area for a short period of time in the eyes of others, but the years that passed in the Land of Nothingness still took their toll on him.
Almost every single person he saw there was fated to never reunite with their families again. They were forced to start new lives in that place.
Now that he was back home, Damien wanted to take a moment to appreciate what he had. This was something that both the people of that realm and the Worldwalker could never keep hold of.
Simply, the concept of family.
When Damien exited seclusion, he was immediately met by his own father.
"Congratulations," Dante said with a heartfelt smile.
"It seems that you have truly reached that place now."
Damien nodded slightly.
"I guess you could say that."
"Good," Dante said, patting his back.
"You are carrying a great weight on your shoulder, but it is still best to remember that you don't need to rush. I believe you will be able to accomplish everything that you desire."
Damien smiled. Was this the fatherly affirmation that everyone sought? It did feel quite good.
As Dante led him back inside, Damien had a sudden thought.
"By the way, how did you know that I made progress?"
It may have been a guess backed by the fact that he exited the cave, but Dante looked too sure of himself for the basis of his words to be an assumption.
Dante made a sound of surprise.
"You didn't know? The Firmament Board manifests so that the entire cosmos can witness your accomplishment. Back then, if it weren't for that, Straea and the rest wouldn't have learned of my physique," he said.
"But you don't need to worry, do you? The entire world knows the heights you've reached, and with the era you've ushered in…"
Damien felt the pull of space as Dante moved him to a separate location.
They were in front of a door that he opened while finishing his words.
"...the entire world has been celebrating them."
As the door opened, Damien's heart and mind were assailed by an aura of vitality. His hearing was engulfed in a wave of cheers that did not originate from the palace in the slightest.
No, what Dante wanted to show him when he opened the door wasn't a crowd waiting for him conveniently in the moment.
All Damien needed to do was spread his senses across the world to find the origin of those cheers.
Everywhere. On every single battlefield, in every single meeting room, and at every single home, the people were cheering.
They roared his name, they roared about his accomplishment.
Because, with the descent of the Firmament Board, the people of this world could finally rid themselves of their fear of the Dark God.
They also had a person like that.
They also had someone who was capable of doing everything the Dark God could.
Which meant that as long as they kept fighting, the enemy of their cosmos would be vanquished. They would receive the glory of defending their cosmos and the stability that had been forcefully taken out of their lives.
It was a miracle the things hope could do.
Damien was currently looking at a situation that was almost the exact same as what happened to Grand Heavens Boundary.
A great plot that spanned countless eons was unraveling, forcing the people to fight back for the sake of their survival.
What was the difference?
In Grand Heavens Boundary, the Nox were a force that people knew to fear. While many were willing to risk themselves for their homes, there was a larger number that chose to give up.
They fled, hid, or betrayed their people. Even amongst the highest echelon of society, there were so many traitors that even Damien was tempted to give up on the universe.
The people of the Heavenly World weren't the same.
They knew to fear the Foreign Races, but they also knew to fight them.
Their true threat had only been revealed at the end, and by that point, Void Palace had built up so much worldwide patriotism that it was received with cries of war, not fear.
Everything that went wrong last time went right this time.
And as a reward for his efforts in making that possible, Damien received these cheers, a pure cry of vitality and hope that came from the people.
It was surreal. Truly.