Void Evolution System

Chapter 1854  Prelude [2]

Their cheers could be considered the world's gift to him. Damien cherished that moment when he heard them, taking it all in and digesting it fully.

Right, if the rest of the cosmos had that much hope, then there was no need for him to be worried either.

Hope wasn't a power. It couldn't magically change situations and give people the strength to do the impossible.

Still, it was special in its own way. The will to fight present in all living beings was displayed at its greatest when those beings were desperate for survival.

Was this his doing?

Most of what Damien did was in the shadows. He gained some recognition, sure, but nobody truly knew that he was the one making changes to the world.

He never sought acknowledgement from the people he saved and empowered, but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate it when it was shown.

'I guess they made sure that my deeds became public knowledge.'

The culprits were obviously the members of his one family. He smiled wryly and shook his head.

'How could anyone give this up?'

With idle thoughts in his head, Damien followed his father into another room and sat down with him for some small conversation.

They spent a decent amount of time together before Damien left. After all, he still had a lot of people he wanted to see.

His mother and aunt, his siblings, his wives, his friends, his mentors…

This cosmos was filled with people whose fates intersected with his. As Damien stood above the clouds, looking down at Existence from a new perspective, he couldn't help but emphasize just how much those fate lines were.

Perhaps in this world, only Rose could understand his current emotions.

'Come to think of it, she's been seeing stuff like this since we were young. If she wanted to, couldn't she also do something incredible?'

Rose's interest wasn't in training, so it couldn't be helped. Her potential was definitely something he still needed to keep in mind.

'With how eager she is for children…'

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to meet her now?

'If she finds out I thought that, even as a joke, I'm dead.'

In the end, the only people who could truly control Damien were his wives.

But, he had been spending a great deal of time with them recently. He was, of course, going to visit them, but there was a stop he wanted to make first.

'Those bastards…I should properly catch up with them.'

Long Chen and Su Ren, those two men who chased only the sword even at this stage in their lives…

They were treading a completely different path than him, but it never seemed to matter. No matter how much time passed or how much their lives changed, their bond was as solid as it was when they were younger.

There were only two of them, sure, but the two of them were true friends that he'd never be able to replace.

It was just a shame that he didn't get time to meet them more often.

***

While Damien took a break, the rest of the world continued to move. There wasn't much that needed to be said about the never changing chaotic war situation, but a few important events happened.

The most significant of them all had to do with none other than Arulion.

Roughly three days after the war began, Arulion completed its preparations. The hidden realm that housed all dragonkin and dragons finally left the shadows. Their land was superimposed upon the Western Region, and finally, dragonkind returned to the world. The entire kingdom changed immensely since August took control.

Zenith, the current Dragon Emperor, gave him teachings with genuine care, ensuring that he grew into a great emperor.

And from the position that he aimed for, August did everything he promised to do.

He brought the entirety of dragonkind back to their roots. From those roots, they evolved by using Qinglong's ideas as a basis and improving upon them.

The current dragon kingdom didn't have anything like a class system. Nor did it have anything like a common population. There were clans everywhere and small groupings of dragons, sure, but they all had access to strength.

Even the most common dragon could now stand on the same pedestal as the previous Holy Clan geniuses. As for the Holy Clans themselves…

Well, it was safe to say that they were repenting.

The Holy Dragons were gone, and as the population grew, the influence of the sheer power of the Holy Clans had decreased.

Now, even if they were freed from their slavery, they'd be no more than normal. They were forced to accept their positions and become August's personal army.

He utilized them mostly as civil servants. They quite literally served the people in whatever way possible. Their hands got dirty, they got on their hands and knees and did things they'd never experienced in their privileged lives, and for the most part, their hatred grew further and further.

But it wasn't as if all of them were the same.

Liqua…didn't need to be mentioned. Even August rarely visited that realm, because its insanity-inducing environment was doing horrible things to them.

Nevertheless, the new Arulion came to the aid of the forces that already existed in the world.

In this period of time, August managed to pull the Ignis Clan and the Ether Clan to his side. The Noct Clan seemed more easy to convince than he originally thought as well. Really, the Aurora Clan and the Aureat Clan were the only ones who continued to be problematic.

Liqua…didn't need to be mentioned. Even August rarely visited that realm, because its insanity-inducing environment was doing horrible things to them.

Nevertheless, the new Arulion came to the aid of the forces that already existed in the world.

With the dragons joining the battlefield, the Heavenly World forces started to gain an advantage that was impossible for them before.

Because the Dark God was not sending an insane number of Supreme Gods into their world, they were still able to fight.

However, Damien properly shared the Dark God's information with his people. Hestia, who stood at the army's head, knew that he had the capability to turn this entire war meaningless.

Preparations needed to be made to that effect. They could be left in the hands of the Krone Clan. Their formation knowledge had already been improving by leaps and bounds over the past few years, but they were able to unravel so much new technology when the war started that it was almost unbelievable.

Frankly, the True Void was prepared for this war. Partially, it was because they bought themselves a lot of time, but if it weren't for the Dark God's quirks, they would have already gone extinct.

He was the one who created this relatively even playing field because he wanted to see them properly struggle before they died.

It was their job to flip the situation on its head and show him that he made the worst possible decision by giving them time to prepare.

The most common people in the world, the clans that once ruled it, and its strongest players were all on the same page.

The period of time remaining before the pot boiled over could only be called "some days."

And the eruption that would occur when those days passed…

It would be quite a sight to witness indeed.