Damien only went and saw Lynn for a little. No matter how much time it had been, nothing would change in how they interacted. Originally, she was his mother's Apostle, but once Claire's soul healed and she left for the Heavenly World, Lynn dedicated herself to doing the same for Damien.
She acted faithfully as his Apostle and never overstepped her bounds. That continued even now, when she was practically the Sanctuary's ruler.
Zara and Xue'er took up more time, along with the people around them.
Naturally, Xue'er wasn't very happy about his absence. For someone who was also family, she was kept separated from the rest for an unreasonably long time.
Of course, Xue'er had met the rest of her family members. Rose and the rest of his wives were able to take people in and out of the Sanctuary, so that meeting was always fated to happen.
However, the Heavenly World was like a vacation destination for her. As Damien and the rest didn't want her getting involved with the great war, she was forced to spend most of her time in this universe, away from it all.
She complained a lot, but Damien agreed with everyone else.
Xue'er spent most of her life peacefully. Even when she fought, it was rare for her to find her life on the line. She wasn't ready for war.
She overcame her childhood trauma long ago. She was an adult now and technically the same age as Hestia, but their situations were different, so the way they were treated was also different.
It wasn't that she didn't have a chance. Xue'er had good people around her who supported her dreams, so they obviously weren't going to hold her back without reason.
So, they tested her to see if she was ready for war. Naturally, she failed. Who could ever be ready for war except those who'd experienced it?
Xue'er had no choice but to accept that she wasn't going to be able to leave the Sanctuary. She just complained because she could. Mostly, it could be called revenge. Since her brother decided to so rudely leave her alone for so long, she had the right to nag his ear off, right?
Damien was happy to see how she'd grown. He stayed with her for a long time before he went to see Zara. That meeting was a bit less vocal.
Zara hardly noticed the time that passed. Because she and Alea had been vigorously training ever since they left Grand Heavens Boundary, the time flew in her perception.
She didn't even truly understand what level Damien had reached now or what was going on in the Heavenly World.
Unlike everyone else, she had yet to even leave the Sanctuary.
Zara and Alea were a unique case. They liked the atmosphere of the Sanctuary better and stayed because they wanted to.
After all, this universe was now capable of housing True Gods as well. Their paths wouldn't be inhibited by the Heavenly World.
Zara knew that if she wanted to properly coexist with Alea, she needed to continue finding herself and developing as an individual. That had been the defining goal of her journey in the past years.
She was glad to see Damien after so long, but he thought it was better if he didn't tell her about his growth. She could no longer feel his level through their connection, and she wasn't aware that the heights he reached had influenced her as well.
It was impossible to say that he was the main contributor to her growth, but she would definitely see it that way if she realized the gap between them. Rather than that, Damien kept the focus on her and learned about what she and Alea had been doing.
Zara mentioned that she wanted to do practical training. The only problem was that nobody in this universe had the guts to aim at her throat.
Conveniently enough, there was a war about to happen. Knowing what Zara and Alea could do in battle, Damien happily invited them to participate.
Finally, after making a few more stops, he returned to the Heavenly World, officially ending his small vacation.
Those conversations and meetings weren't worth explaining in detail. Most of what was said was meaningless and only spoken for the sake of conversation. Still, those meaningless conversations were extremely valuable.
Because of them, Damien could return to his training with a clear mind.
He thought about going straight back to putting Existence and Nonexistence together, but there was another route he more preferred.
His foundation was complete, but he felt like that was the only place where he made progress.
As such, he made one more move to bolster it.
Damien knew it existed. Just like World Cores and Universal Cores, every cosmos had its own Cosmic Core. He had never met it or even looked for it, but he felt like the most important part of bonding with any celestial entity was meeting with and gaining the approval of its core.
Wasn't it strange for Damien's "Existence" to be so entwined with the True Void Universe when he hadn't even spoken to it?
To solve this problem, he made that leap and established contact with the Cosmic Core.
He put out a request, and the cosmos received it. It accepted his desire to meet and entertained him.
Again, at this point, there was nothing special about the meeting.
The Cosmic Core had witnessed everything Damien had done. From the moment he was born to this very moment, it had witnessed almost all of his excursions.
It saw him clear out the threats that plagued it. It saw him try to save its lesser parts like Grand Heavens Boundary, and it watched how he positively impacted the environment of the Heavenly World.
It was not averse to giving him its loyalty, especially in the current situation.
It was more than aware that Damien was its only hope. What kind of survival instinct did it have if it didn't accept him?
Perhaps this was the true end of the path of every Celestial. The Celestial Mana Thread that once only interacted with planets was now interacting with the core of the entire cosmos, easily creating a bond between it and Damien.
Damien's "Existence" became slightly more robust. He could now view almost the entire history of this cosmos, barring only the few events that even the Cosmic Core didn't want him to see.
If he wanted to, he could easily pierce through its defenses and gain that information as well, but trust was the foundation of every relationship, no? He was willing to wait. Even in this matter, there was no need to rush.
There wasn't really another way to stall. Damien could only give it one more try before truly giving up.
Existence and Nonexistence didn't want to become one. They liked their individuality a lot, and without the true constraints of the Void inhibiting them, they were able to exhibit more freedom than ever before.
Could he break their rebellious attitudes, or would they overpower him in the end?
Regardless, the outcome was already determined.
He could never be first, since the Worldwalker already accomplished it, but there was nothing wrong with being the second to become Absolute.
Because he would be the second in all history, across all cosmos, regardless of time.
That was more than enough.