The eye blinked as if surprised by Damien's immediate reaction.

"You were predicting my presence?"

A booming voice filled the empty cavity where the World Core resided. Just hearing it almost burst Damien's eardrums.

"Of course I was expecting you. If not, why would I come here so rashly."

Damien was, in fact, not expecting this situation to occur.

'They can form a direct connection to the World Core deep enough to use it as an avatar? What methods are they using?'

Even a Celestial couldn't use a World Core as an avatar, because a World Core was fundamentally unable to function as such.

World Cores, despite their heaven-defying power, were heavily restricted by the universal law. Even their bonds with Celestials were regulated by this overarching rule. It was fundamentally impossible for a World Core to function outside of the set restrictions,

'Then, are they completely rewriting the World Core's existence into something different? What is its purpose? And more importantlyjust how?'

A feeling of uncharacteristic and irresistible greed suddenly overcame Damien. His instinct as a Celestial was dying to understand the Nox's methodology, for it could be extremely useful to his growth.

Damien quelled this feeling instantly. By the time the mysterious eye responded, he'd already wrapped up his thoughts.

"Foolish human. If you wish for death so badly, I do not mind granting it to you."

The World Core's mana immediately began moving.

"Hey, hey! Calm down a bit. Can't you see I'm only here for some idle conversation?"

The eye glared at Damien. "For what reason would I desire to converse with a lower existence? Stop your foolishness and perish."

The World Core's mana flared. Disgusting black ink splattered across the walls of the cavity, fluctuating as they pressured Damien.

'Fuck, who is this guy?!' Damien thought inwardly as he resisted the pressure.

His Celestial Authority spread and enveloped his body, and the World Force he could access through the World Core Fusion Reactor in his spiritual world was unleashed in full.

"Old ghosts like youjust don't know how to be civil! Damn!"

The Demon Dragon Transformation followed his words. His body was immediately enhanced manifold, making it much easier to resist the pressure.

On top of the multi-layer protection he laid outside his body, he consciously revolved Void Mana through his system to expel or devour any Nox Mana that managed to pierce his defense.

"Hoh?" The voice in the eye made a sound of intrigue. "To think you would acquire something like thathow interesting"

Waves of inky black mana surrounded Damien and started digging into his protection layers like worms. His World Force, his Celestial Authority, his Demon Dragon Body, none were able to stop their invasion.

"Gah!" Damien gasped.

The first worm of mana managed to pierce his skin and dig into his body.

The first was followed by a second, a fourth, a tenth, and countless more until Damien's entire body was covered in what looked like a black suit of armor.

'Thisisfuckingdisgusting!' Damien roared internally. His internal body was searing with pain. Each worm that entered left a deep stabbing pain that felt like it impaled his soul.

'Break!'

Void mana revolved more furiously with every passing instant, causing mana to rush in and out of Damien's body in waves. Spacetime Essence, Void Flames, any cards Damien had were fully displayed in his bid to stay alive.

And it worked.

Pshhhhhh!

With the sound of meat searing on a grill, the countless worms within his body were burned and expelled, transformed into pure essence that he then absorbed and recycled to fortify his defense.

'But these little fuckers won't stop coming!'

His opponent had an entire World Core's worth of mana to throw at him. No matter the situation, even if he uses the Void Physique's mana hole to recuperate, he wouldn't be able to compete.

'Dammit!!' Damien roared once more. Anger began to cloud his mind. He refused to die in such a stupid manner, in a situation that appeared as randomly as this one.

His mana began to fuse with the inky black mana entering his body.

The inky mana was like a parasite, actively corrupting his own mana into its form. If Damien allowed this to continue, he'd be crippled at the very least.

And even if it wasn't a permanent injury, losing the thread of himself that he sent to the World Core space would leave him bedridden for a good amount of time, even if he used [Heal] continuously.

Yet, despite knowing the consequences of failing here, Damien couldn't find a method to escape.

'Material Shift'

'Dimension Shift'

'Phase Shift'

'Stagnant Reality'

'Fuck! Just freeze'

Time and space shattered around him, reality was slightly cracking under the pressure of his will, but the mana worms in his body seemed to defy reality itself.

In that moment, reddish-black sparks flew.

Damien's eyes were colored in madness.

'FUCK!'

His body felt on the verge of exploding. A mysterious force entered his system and enhanced every facet of his abilities, allowing him to forcefully increase the time he could resist.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Damien's aura exploded with the flames of hell. The World Core space began to crack from the pressure of his aura. Any mana worms that approached this deathly flaming aura were burned to cinders before they could even reach Damien's body.

In response, all the eye had to do was increase its power output.

A World Corewas something even a Demigod couldn't face the explosion of.

The final shred of resistance Damien had collapsed. His body once again became a nest for those mana worms who burrowed into his skin. He could feel their slimy bodies crawling through his internals and propagating.

"AHHHHHHHH!" He let out a guttural scream. He pushed Void Mana to its limits, wrapping it around his body like a cocoon and isolating his systems.

He ripped his arms off.

He ripped his legs off.

He could regrow them when he had the time, but the ones that were already attached to his body had just become breeding grounds for that atrocious mana.

Yet, just as Damien prepared to take drastic measures to save himself

the pressure suddenly lost its weight. Damien didn't even have time to realize his mortality before it happened.

"Humanyou are quite different from your peers." The eye scoffed.

Damien didn't respond. As he caught his breath, his body began changing, influenced by the reddish-black energy surrounding him.

With the terrifying appearance that the energy gave him and the half-regrown limbs dangling from his body, he looked like a demon straight from the 9th layer of hell.

But this form of his didn't seem to faze the eye in the slightest.

"Hahaha, still so eager to fight? Interesting human, I do not wish to kill you so early. Let us meet once your blood has matured. At that point, I wonder whether you'll still have the gall to stand up to me"

"Remember this, my title is Saint Emperor. I'll be looking forward to your future growth"

The eye vanished on its own.

The sickly mana receded back into the World Core.

And Damien woke up.

His mind whirred to life. Confusion was eminent on his face.

'Whatthe fuck just happened?'