Chapter 1541: War [1]
Damien had escaped.
The instant he killed and devoured Count Telebris, he used his connection with the Sanctuary to disappear from the Frostbound Mountain Range.
It really was a convenient method of travel.
After all, for as long as someone with an access gate to the Sanctuary was at Void Palace, Damien would always be able to immediately return to safety.
His escape was a good thing.
But Damien didn't feel good about it.
For a long time now, he'd been escaping.
When was the last time he actually went out and fought a battle?
He'd been careful for the palace's sake, keeping his strength to himself so his enemies didn't gain information.
But it was too late now.
Even with all of his preparations, his enemies still managed to learn the things they weren't meant to know.
That was confirmed the instant he devoured Count Telebris.
Straea knew what he could do, as did the Foreign Races.
How?
They got lucky. Damien dropped his guard for no more than a single moment and that was enough for all of their suspicions to become facts.
It was similar to how everything Damien knew was being affirmed as fact by Count Telebris' memories.
Damien made it back to Void Palace relatively unharmed, but a change would come from this point forth.
That battle was the last time.
It was the last time he would choose escape over battle.
The strength he'd accumulated through all of his training, the power that gave him the right to rule billions of people...
It was about time for him to truly use it to its full potential.
***
Damien learned a lot of things from Count Telebris' memories.
His being a Count meant the information he had on the Sacred Abyss Universe wasn't much better than Count Verex's. He did have his own territory, which Damien could probably lay claim to if he went there, but other than that, everything Count Telebris knew was something Damien also knew.
However, Count Telebris knew everything that was happening with the Foreign Nobility infiltrating the Heavenly World. On top of that, he had a considerable amount of information on the Straea Clan.
Ironically, the Foreign Noble was more useful for learning about the happenings of the Heavenly World than his own homeworld.
Still, in this instance, that was for the better. After all, Damien wasn't looking for the Sacred Abyss Universe's secrets right now.
Anything he needed to be aware of, he now knew.
Which meant he didn't have to hesitate.
Damien didn't waste a single moment when he returned to the palace. After a short greeting to those who saw him arrive, he called another emergency meeting.
It was the same as last time.
An announcement of war.
The second he returned, it was war.
Not the small, irrelevant war that had been taking place until now, but war between Divinities, the true lifeblood of every great clan.
He wasn't the only one who had to stop holding back. Everything Void Palace had done in these years to rise above its fellow great clans needed to be put into action.
Straea had to go down. The Foreign Races had to go down.
Everyone who opposed Void Palace would die.
It was sudden for a lot of people.
For the six months Damien had been gone, the war had been escalating and the power level of the deployed troops had been increasing.
However, neither side had nearly enough of a reason to bring out their strongest warriors yet. Strategically speaking, it was beyond stupid.
But that was before Damien devoured Count Telebris.
As he was now, this was the perfect opportunity.
Plus, he couldn't just give the Foreign Nobility space to do as they pleased.
The chain of command established within the palace army was impeccable. Information traveled extremely fast, and as if they'd been present for the meeting Damien held, the palace troops began their retreat almost instantly.
Rather than pushing the Straea Clan within their own territory as they'd been doing until now, the entirety of the army retreated to the border of the Southern Region and created an iron fortress around their home.
It wasn't just the troops that were already deployed. A large majority of the army's non-Divine combatants were placed on this line.
Meanwhile, the Divinities were gathered together and given their roles.
Or rather, they were given their targets.
As long as everyone they were sent to kill was properly eliminated, the Straea Clan would destroy itself.
Damien's hit list was by no means easy to complete.
After all, the names at the top of that list were very familiar to everyone present.
Malevalon and Malefice Straea, the two brothers who led the entire operation.
And the ones tasked with killing them...
There was really nobody better than Damien's own mother and her close sister.
Claire and Serena were by far the most powerful people in the palace. Damien had seen their strength firsthand only a few times, but they were the primary reason why Malevalon didn't directly strike the palace during Dante's imprisonment.
If they had the power to make that man wary, then Damien didn't have to worry about them.
Nevertheless, plans were made quicker than anyone could process them.
A roadmap that led to the perfect destruction of the Straea Clan without any room for other outcomes was created.
As long as it was followed, everything would end soon.
"Huu..."
Damien took a breath.
The moment Count Telebris' memories became his, Damien entered a warmongering mode. It felt as if all of his doubts had cleared, leaving room for only success.
'I'm going to be on the battlefield too.'
It may have been arrogant, but the fact that he himself would be able to fight was Damien's greatest assurance of victory.
He sat back in his chair, closing his eyes.
This would be the last moment of peace for a while.
So as he learned to do on Ice Luan Mountain, he enjoyed it as much as he could.
His life would be chaos when the war began.
But that chaos was the same environment where he thrived.
'Okay.'
His mind was clear.
His vision saw beyond the horizon.
A few days passed after that, a time that the palace members used to brace themselves for what was to come.
The entire world had been lulled into a silence. Amidst the retreat of Void Palace's troops, the Straea Clan had become oddly quiet as well.
It was extremely odd, especially considering how brutal the war they raged had been thus far.
Millions had died at the very least. It didn't seem like after suffering such losses the two influences would ever put down their swords.
So for a silence like this to suddenly erupt...?
Naturally, it couldn't mean anything good.
This time saw a mass migration of people into the Eastern regions of the world. As people tried to avoid the escalating conflict, they moved across the Frostbound Mountain Range so they could be safe.
Unfortunately, not everyone could make this move in time.
Because there wasn't much time before war erupted again.
And this time, with countless Divinities swarming the world with the blood of their enemies as their only goal...
The world would truly face a situation it had never faced before.