The birth of a world.

This was what Damien saw upon binding Calypto.

It was a scene he'd seen once before, but not nearly in the same level of detail as what he was currently witnessing.

From the moment the universe's mana coalesced into a tiny sprout that would bloom into a World Core all the way until that World Core matured, formed a world around it, and birthed life, Damien saw it all.

He was an observer, someone who shouldn't have existed as this happened. And from this position, he was able to witness things the common eye wasn't supposed to see:

Traces of the universal law in its purest and most unadulterated form.

'This'

Damien's mind raced. The matter of the world itself was secondary. Even the immense Life and Death comprehension he could gain from watching the world grow was secondary.

If he could obtain even a trace of comprehension of the universal law, all else would become mundane.

'Khh!'

His mind pulsated as he tried to hone in on that barely noticeable trace. He pushed his mental energy to the limit, using his awareness to pierce reality and reach that strand of intent.

It was shapeless, formless, colorless, almost nonexistent. Yet, it was the exact same intent that formed the entirety of the universe. It was nowhere, yet it was everywhere at the same time, making it almost impossible for Damien to touch it.

But he did his best. He put everything he possibly could into locating it. He got closer and closer, the fluctuation of that power becoming clearer with time until!

His mind snapped back to reality.

"Haahaahaa"

In the end, he wasn't able to grasp what he wanted.

However

'That'

His eyes sharpened.

'Wasn't that similar to the breath of the Void?'

***

Damien's interaction with the World Core was short yet meaningful. As soon as his consciousness returned to his body, he felt droves of World Force becoming his to use, and a new celestial body appeared in his spiritual world, connected to his other worlds through the World Core Fusion Reactor.

It was truly a completely different entity than the rest.

The World Force was weak in comparison to its quantity, but that was merely because the World Core was still new and without spiritual intelligence. In terms of purity, this new breed of World Force was far greater than anything Damien had ever touched before.

'It feels like this World Force's fluctuation is closer to the universal law that I barely felt earlier.'

The universal law clearly had a connection to the Void that Damien had been unaware of, and since the Void itself influenced this World Core's formation, it was natural for it to be closer to the origin than a regular World Core.

As for the benefits of this change, Damien would have to slowly uncover them with time. Calypto's new World Core couldn't even transmit hints of emotion like Earth could yet, so it couldn't help him in any way.

Nevertheless, Damien was immensely satisfied.

The binding was a success.

'This is a viable process.'

In the future, he had yet another card to use against the Nox, one that could strike serious blows to their efforts in destroying the universe.

If Damien could continue to refine his craft, perhaps there would come a day when he could revive destroyed World Cores as well.

If that day came

'Hah, it's no use thinking in hypotheticals. Rather than that, I should start heading back to the academy.'

Most of the worries that had been troubling him were dealt with.

Damien had gone to the Sanctuary to visit Zara long ago, and he'd seen that she was safe. While she wasn't yet ready to share what she'd experienced with him, that'd come with time.

Her safety and health were far more important than the information she could provide.

Since she wanted to quietly meditate and organize her mind, Damien created a new section of the Sanctuary specifically dedicated to her practice and allowed her to stay there.

While she took care of her own matters, he had a progress examination to breeze through.

'At this point, it feels useless.'

Death Emperor Star still had countless forbidden zones for Damien to explore, but he didn't currently have the time to explore them all.

He urgently needed to head to the battlefield and participate in the war. This was something he realized after his adventures in Calypto.

'For now, I'll go back to the academy since I have a promise to uphold with the Director. And since Aesir and Calypto were both saved by me, shouldn't I be rewarded?'

Damien grinned greedily as he thought about extorting the Director. That stoic old man who didn't know how to be jovial, it would be nice to see a distraught expression on his face, right?

'Yeah, now that's some quality motivation.'

With a smile on his face, Damien flickered out of existence and disappeared from Calypto altogether.

Only a lonely and desolate world was left in his wake.

It was a few minutes later when new life signatures appeared in the vicinity.

A little girl and an old man stood together in the starry sky above Calypto. Despite the oddity of their presence, the strangest part about them wastheir familiarity!

This duo had encountered Damien once before, long ago when he was still on the unnamed world in the Human Domain. It was because he eavesdropped on their conversation that he learned of Wrath's danger.

However, this duo never personally interacted with Damien.

In this instance, they'd come just barely after he departed.

"He's going to meet them soon, isn't he?" The little girl asked as she gazed at Calypto.

"He is, indeed. Why do you ask?" The old man replied with a smile.

The little girl was silent for a moment.

"Say, if you utilized everything in your arsenal, could you alter the base structure of a World Core to your liking?"

She asked the old man without answering his previous question, because she knew. If it was her, it'd be utterly impossible.

In fact, just the thought of doing so was inconceivable.

The old man's gaze traveled from the little girl to Calypto with an unchanging smile on his face. A trace of solemnity flashed through his wizened eyes.

"no. Even if I used the Lord's Divine Providence, I would still fail."

"I thought so."

The girl's indifferent facade twitched.

The last time she'd seen him was only a matter of years ago, yet in such a short period of time, he was able to reach such a level?

Even if this was the lower universe, affecting the fabric of reality was something even a Demigod couldn't do.

Hell, even a God couldn't take such a task lightly.

"Just what the hell is he?" The girl muttered under her breath.

The old man's smile widened. "Of course, the answer is obvious"

His gaze shifted to the horizon, as if his eyes could pierce through the veil of reality and see anything they wished to see.

Those eyes gleamed with a sense of curiosity and pride that couldn't be hidden even under his usual smiling facade.

"only a monster like him is worthy of being the Lord's kin."