Chapter 1473: Gehenna [10]

Pure human emotion.

Unexpectedly, pure human emotion was the so-called "theme" of this realm.

How many days had passed?

With the mist blocking the sky and the law of time vague, it was hard to really follow how much time had passed, however, Damien had been tested so many times that he had gotten used to this realm.

These tests weren't random. Someone or something was consciously guiding them and choosing what would be tested.

And every single time, it was human emotion.

At first, it seemed as if the being was trying to teach Damien something. The first few illusions had the same feel.

However, Damien continued to push back.

Instead of following the grain and learning the lessons he was supposed to learn, he exerted his own beliefs as well, turning every trial into more of a conversation than anything else.

Damien and that being did not always agree on their ideals.

That being believed in indifference. For some reason, it refused to acknowledge the worth of emotions like love when power was concerned.

Damien, on the other hand, refused to give up those emotions, instead using them to fuel his power.

Which of their opinions was right?

Both sides were too stubborn to ever change their beliefs, so it really didn't matter.

But it was rare for someone to appear who could have a conversation like this without it devolving into hostility.

Damien was interested in understanding the psyche of the being he was facing, so he entertained its games.

As for that being, it had never truly been acknowledged before.

It had never felt what it was like to have a conversation until it met Damien.

It wanted to continue that conversation, to understand how smaller beings thought, to see how Damien would resist conformity with his morals.

Because of that, the conversation soon changed pace, from large dilemmas that were meant to force Damien into tough positions to more calm trials.

These were not clashes of opinions anymore.

They were questions.

What is love?

Why do humans cherish it so?

What is the point of relationships when they can break so easily?

Questions one would expect from a teenager or someone first experiencing emotions they'd never seen before were asked one after another.

Damien began to doubt the identity of the one he was speaking to, but that being didn't allow him the chance.

Because it would ask a question like, "Why do you do so much for other people?" and then follow up by asking something along the lines of, "If humans are jealous of the vastness of the universe, could the universe hold the same feeling towards the numerosity of existences within it?"

Damien couldn't necessarily answer the first properly. He did his best to explain what was an inherent and unquestionable feeling for him.

However, the second one...

That was something he experienced himself.

When he spoke to Grand Heavens Boundary's Universal Core, this was the feeling that was viscerally transmitted through every single one of his words.

The universe was massive. The people within it could only look into the stars and wish they could explore and see every corner of it. Yet, no matter how long their lives were, they wouldn't be able to reach the end.

But the universe was not free from jealousy.

The universe was jealous of just how many existences resided within it, it was envious of the connections they could make with each other and the stories they could create.

Now, knowing there were multiple cosmos in existence, Damien didn't know how to feel about this.

However, he was made to wonder if the being behind the mist felt similar to the Universal Core of that time.

It wasn't human, that much was certain. Whether or not it was even a living being was questionable.

That being wanted to learn about humans but never considered things from the perspective of a human.

It seemed to long for the smallest of things, yet it had a supreme understanding of the grander and more vague concepts that plagued the hearts of men.

It was a strange being, as if it had experienced everything yet nothing at all, living a life that could barely be considered a life yet was a life beyond any other.

It was a being of contradiction, and that only made Damien want to find it even more.

That was why he continued entertaining its little questions and tests.

His position was unknown. He'd been walking for ages and in every direction imaginable. It was possible that he was only a few dozen feet from the original plaza he arrived at, but he also could've been several thousands of kilometers away.

He really didn't know.

Until the mist cleared again, leading him into a cave.

It was lined with blue crystals that shone in the darkness. They created a path that led deep underground, to a place no other had entered before,

Damien followed it to its unassuming end, a scene one would expect from a regular cave.

Rather than an illusion, what greeted him there was a hidden pathway.

The cave itself folded inward and consumed Damien, bringing him into the space.

But even then, he didn't feel much different than usual.

Even this place was covered in mist.

It swirled around strangely without a breeze to affect it. Unlike the mist outside, the cave mist was pure white, unaffected by external factors.

'I haven't met a single evil spirit yet, but there's been a few brushes.'

Every time Damien saw red mist in the distance, it was an evil spirit trying to approach.

However, every time an evil spirit approached, the mist would rise up and fight it off, allowing Damien to focus on what he was doing.

The mist clearly didn't want their conversation to be disturbed.

'Is that why it brought me here?'

Was this the mist's dwelling, the place it was assured would remain secure?

There wasn't much to see other than it. The pure whiteness was hazy, but it managed to conceal everything else in the hidden room, if there was anything at all.

Damien still glanced around, confused as to what he was meant to do.

But as he sat there, he eventually realized it.

It danced and swirled.

It flew all around like a collection of tiny spirits trying to get Damien's attention.

It had been present since the beginning, but because of its form, nobody had ever regarded it as a being that could be communicated with.

But Damien had done exactly that.

And it brought him here to continue.

'The mist itself has been my conversation partner this entire time.'

It was the mist asking him curious questions about human existence and telling him about the myriad wonders of the cosmos.

It was the mist that set him up to view the battle of the ancients and learn to keep his calm, and it was the mist that forced those ancient spirits to continue fighting until his arrival.

Was it for entertainment?

Or was there a deeper purpose behind the actions of this strange being?

Nobody could ever know because nobody could recognize it.

But that had changed now.

And as Damien looked into the mist, the mist looked back at him.

It was time for them to have a proper conversation.