Damien's body was completely destroyed in the darkness. His physical form and soul were both gone, so in a certain sense, he could be considered dead.
The human known as Damien Void was already exterminated, however, he was no longer human in body and soul. He was a Supreme, and his body responded to death like a Supreme's would.
His existence maintained itself. His Legend shined bright through the blackness and created a place for him to exist. The Void Soul and Void Physique still existed, anchored to that essence. They were ready to reappear at any time.
This kind of state could not be considered disadvantageous in any other situation. Damien was essentially impervious , and with resurrection on the horizon, he wouldn't usually experience danger even if he was forced into such a corner.
The Dark God was an issue because he could target what others couldn't. His target changed when he managed to erase Damien's body. After realizing that superimposing the Worldwalker onto him wasn't enough to create the outcome he desired, he changed his strategy.
He was now targeting exactly the few things that held Damien together. He went after his Legend and dismantled it from beginning to end. He went after his body and did his best to destroy anything that gave him strength.
All of the connections Damien made as a Celestial were shattered. The World Core Fusion Reactor managed by the fragmented Universal Core, Reva, disappeared. His spiritual world was rid of everything that he established there and returned to a plane landscape with no defining features.
Damien's physical body was gone, but its properties were maintained in his essence. The Dark God targeted those, reverting his bloodline to what he possessed when he was just a human, destroying his traits, including his regeneration, and doing everything possible to disrupt the Void Physique's existence.
The physical body and soul that had been baptized by the Void were meant to be unbreakable, but the Dark God transformed into an entity that was the antithesis of such words. He was so close to the Void now that even these aspects had to stay to the side and let him have his way.
Because this was Damien's final challenge. No matter what he did or what happened, the Void would not help him.
He either survived this and became Absolute or died in mediocrity. Its stern demeanor would not give him another choice.
It was undeniable that Damien was dying, but he did not pay it any mind. His ego, hidden in the deepest recesses of his existence, was too busy with other things.
He spoke to Existence and Nonexistence. He formed a connection between them while comprehending their interactions.
With every passing second, the light that made up his essence became dimmer and dimmer. However, with every passing second, his two concepts became closer and closer.
If Existence and Nonexistence were considered as two pieces of a puzzle that was half white and half black, then most of the pieces would already be in place.
Merely, there were ten pieces in the very middle that were not in place, leaving the black half and white half disconnected.
Damien placed the pieces down one by one.
His efforts had him progressing at a speed that he had never reached before in his comprehension of anything. The pieces filled themselves properly, because now that Damien was in such a state, Existence and Nonexistence had to make a choice.
Inevitably, either he or the Dark God would become a representative who spoke for them. Damien was the better of the two choices, at least in the opinion of his own concepts, so they stopped fighting.
They supported his efforts and wholeheartedly accepted him as their everything. And with that acceptance, he was granted progress.
Enough progress to make that key realization.
The seconds were too important. Not many of them had passed, but from the moment when Damien was destroyed to now, his essence was devoured at a disastrous rate.
His light was too dim to even be seen for a long period of time. It was protected by a thin invisible film that the Dark God could not cut for a very long time.
Still, under such a violent onslaught, anything and everything would eventually be destroyed.
The light of the essence almost disappeared from reality. Damien reached the tip of true death, his entire being almost consumed by the incarnation of envy.
However, that final moment was like a lifetime. The light disappeared entirely for only a second before a real difference was seen in the incarnation of envy's behavior.
Suddenly, it reeled back as if it was panicking. As its darkness retreated, a spark could be seen. It was no bigger than a grain of sand, but it was light nonetheless.
Damien still existed. He did not allow himself to fall into the jaws of death.
No, he revealed the very core of his existence and lured the Dark God in. He used the sensation of being completely erased to finally fill in the parts where he was lacking.
Damien finally perceived it. That state of an Absolute which could only be imagined became tangible on the line between life and death.
It could be seen even from the Worldwalker's story. Absolutes were existences closer to selflessness than anyone else. To become Absolute, one had to be more than just an individual.
It was a necessity to grow past that point and become a being that could not be defined through pre-existing concepts, laws, or even their nonexistent equivalents.
What Damien experienced on the line of erasure was the cold feeling of the Void that his body was not allowed to feel when he was sent there before.
Back then, he couldn't survive it so it was hidden. Now, it was different, wasn't it?
He felt it clearly, and by feeling it, he achieved what he needed to become more than himself.
'That's it.' Damien thought to himself.
His essence experienced a qualitative change. For this moment, he had been waiting his entire life.
From the moment the World Awakening took place, when that set of asterisks appeared in his status window. Damien questioned it many times throughout his life, but he never delved too deeply into it. At some point, it lost meaning to him and he stopped caring about learning what it was.
However, it was the most important piece of his essence and the reason why he was able to resist the Dark God's attacks while in an energy state.
The title in Damien's status window revealed itself, and finally, its effects became true.
'It was that the entire time. In this moment, I am to become…infinite.'
He was to throw away his connection to the mortal plane if only for a second. Because, even if he wanted to be an Absolute who stayed grounded, he had to reach infinity first.
His essence exploded. Everything that originally created the existence known as "Damien Void" in mind, body, and soul was dismantled.
For that moment, the title was the only thing that remained in reality.
The title that signified his fate, the title given only to him.
It was a title that told him that no matter what happened, he was always bound to be infinite.
And it was the key that unlocked for him the door to the Void.