Chapter 1771: Return [3]

His body was moving before his mind finished processing it.

The surrounding environment changed and turned into an open field perfect for battle, and Damien's fist arrived in front of Dante Void.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A huge outpouring of energy razed the realm, immediately turning it into a wasteland. It was a punch that guaranteed the death of the person it was aimed at.

Well, as long as that person was not Dante Void.

"Not the nicest way to greet your father, is it?"

Dante smiled wryly from the sky.

"My bad. A younger me would never forgive me if I didn't do this."

"Fair enough. Let's get it out of your system then."

The razed environment changed again. Rather than land, the two of them stood in the folds of space surrounded by the starry sky.

"I've also been wanting to see what level you've reached."

Damien grinned.

Frankly, he didn't have any hard feelings for his dad anymore. The grudges he held had been dispelled from the moment he learned that everything his father did was forced. Hell, how was Damien going to be mad at him for leaving when he ended up in a prison made by the Dark God himself to protect his family?

Obviously, Damien's rational mind won over the childish desire he had already lost.

Just...

After saying that he'd punch this guy for so many years, he couldn't just go back on it, could he?

This battle was just a way for them to break the ice between them so they could interact properly as father and son. With both of them being so hard-headed, it was the best method available.

Dante said he wanted to see what Damien could do, but that didn't mean he was going to stand still.

He instantly recognized that his son had moved them into an imaginary space and took control of it to make it best suit his abilities.

In the starry sky, Damien also once saw his abilities continuously enhanced. However, he didn't have that sort of benefit anymore. No matter where he was, his power would be the equal.

Equally dominating.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Damien immediately went to work attacking. He formed several suns and stars that collided with each other and created massive explosions of light and heat that rocked the framework of the simulated universe.

A wave of pure energy struck at Dante like lightning. In response, he merely smiled.

He raised his hand in the air and swished it in both directions.

The entire space changed. Several layers of dimension sublimated through the starry sky and isolated the energy wave from reality.

Damien found himself in a mirror dimension that was a far more sophisticated version of the mirror realm he once used as a domain.

Every inch of reality was a different dimension. If Damien tried to move, then he would be sucked into one after the other until his entire body was separated into multiple different realities.

Spatial cracks tore through the void, opening a path to a land between. Those were once objects that provoked great fear in those who came in contact with them. Their force was enough to rip anyone to shreds no matter what their skill level.

This kind of mechanism remained somewhat true in the Heavenly World as well. Normal spatial cracks couldn't inhibit Divinities, but a spatial practitioner with enough strength could create one that touched upon the barrier to the Void itself. It didn't need to be said why that was deadly.

Damien's mobility would have been effectively limited to a range of only a few meters if he were any other expert. However, he was not just any other expert.

He merely took a breath. When he exhaled, the imaginary space transformed and the effects of Dante's attack were completely dispelled.

"That's just unfair!" Dante complained with a smile.

"If that's what you feel, then do something about it."

"I already am."

The quip came surprisingly fast. Dante opened his hand and Damien immediately sensed the change in space. Once again, several rifts appeared, but they themselves were not an offensive maneuver.

Damien's eyes widened slightly.

'That's possible?'

What he saw coming out of those rifts was an interpolated form of his own energy. The energy he used to "create" through the laws of Existence had been repurposed.

Seeing Damien's expression change for the first time, Dante's grin widened.

"It's obvious that you've reached that place. Your strength has definitely surpassed mine. However, I saw it too, you know?"

Dante formed a ball of mana in his hand. At first glance, it looked like the same spatial mana that characterized Dante's power, but there was an entire universe contained within.

"It may be a little less than what you can do, but don't look down on me too much."

Dante accepted that his son had surpassed him from the moment he learned that Damien was the one who saved him from the Celestial Prison. Having several months after he awakened to cope with that and learn to be proud rather than ashamed was helpful.

Now, Dante didn't mind being the weaker of them. He only wanted to be a good father to the child he was forced to abandon.

If the first step of that was to fight, then he wasn't going to hold back. He also wanted to show his son why he was once considered the strongest person in the cosmos.

The universe in Dante's hand expanded until it took the place of the imaginary world. Both he and Damien were enveloped by it, where life and light meant completely different things.

Damien marveled at the ability. Sure, he could do it too. That wasn't the point, though, was it?

Damien had always been a person who could never see others display the kind of talent he had.

He was always the one with the extremely powerful and esoteric abilities that left others unable to compete. These kinds of scenes were just normal if they came from him.

It was a completely separate matter if they came from someone else. He knew that Dante was strong. He acknowledged his father's talent long ago when he realized that Dante had also touched upon the peak of the Unrecorded.

But this...

'This isn't just touching upon it.'

Dante was able to "create" to an extreme level. For Damien to feel vitality from this universe meant that it was entirely possible for this place to exist on its own in reality.

This level of skill could only be displayed by a person who had done a great deal of research into the concepts of Existence.

'Only...'

Life could potentially exist in this universe, but it didn't.

It was as if Dante knew exactly what he needed to do to progress further, but there was something blocking his path.

Whatever the case, Damien would find out in detail soon enough.

After all, this fight wasn't close to over yet.

Dante summoned the universe to showcase his power, but in a sense, it was an attack in its own right.

Damien felt the pressure it put on him. This was the weight of an "Existence" controlled by someone else.

He had only ever felt this from the Dark God before. So, to encounter it in a non-hostile environment...

This was the best possible greeting that Damien could have ever hoped for.