Void Evolution System

The scene was set at the top of an active volcano. Quite an inconvenient battle environment for most people, but nothing major for the two in question. This place was just barely past the Dragon Lord's manor. That place remained at the foot of this volcano because the terrifying flames were enough to burn even an expert in Nonexistence.

These flames were the basis of the Dragon Lord's power, and they were a perfect tool to use if one wanted to see one's enemy suffer.

Maybe that was why Chaos waited here. It wasn't difficult for Damien to find him after leaving the containment unit. He made his aura clear to the only person who recognized his existence, calling him to their battleground in something like a show of courtesy.

He waited at the top of that volcano for Damien to arrive, and without time to stall, Damien did exactly that.

When he approached, the figure he saw was the same one he met in the containment unit. The monk's body was clearly the same as his ego, but there was something very obviously different about him.

Chaos was not a human. As a being born from emotions and energy, its only humanoid feature was its preference for the human form. Occupying Eximus' body, it looked like a poor imitation of a man and at the same time the ideal of a very specific type of person. It was a contradictory appearance that matched the contradictory force of chaos itself.

"I have been waiting for you."

A voice deep and booming greeted Damien. It felt like a dark mountain whose oppressing pressure made it inhabitable to only the cruelest and most desperate creatures.

"You…this is not your true form, is it?"

Chaos immediately saw through his disguise, but Damien didn't think it was because he could read the Void. Rather, he must've given himself away when he made contact with the Dragon Lord.

"Was that one little clue enough for you? Seriously, I guess you pick some things up after scheming for millions of years," he said, gazing at the Spiritual God with a look of subtle disdain.

His disguise lifted naturally. Damien was feeling cramped in another body, anyway. It was better for him to show himself before their battle.

And now that he'd shown himself, it was better for their battle to begin as soon as possible.

"You look like you wish to fight, however, I will not entertain you," Chaos suddenly said.

"What?" Damien responded in surprise.

"As I said, I will not entertain your instinct for battle. Not until you have answered one question of mine."

Damien naturally frowned. What kind of development was this? And why the hell did Chaos think he would go along with it?

"You can ask your questions if you win. Do you think you can stop me from attacking when I want to?"

BOOM!

"Perhaps not, but I can assure you that you will not be able to touch me."

Chaos reappeared in a completely different place, unaffected by Damien's sudden strike.

"Though battle does indeed interest me, I must know…"

Chaos looked over at Damien. In that moment, he felt the world change.

The skies turned red and Eximus' physical form was usurped by an energy being made of black and red light. Two vague eyes and a mouth formed on that being's face, twisted horridly.

"Where did you receive your surname?"

BOOM!

Damien attacked without realizing it. In this environment, with Chaos running rampant, a similar effect was produced to what the battle arena intentionally did. Nonexistence was manifested, and all things came to light. A large explosion took a chunk out of the volcano, and by the time its sound traveled to where Damien was previously standing, he was already charging at the enemy.

He didn't understand the question, nor did he wonder why it was relevant. The sheer aura that the Spiritual God released when he spoke those words put Damien's mind into battle mode, destroying any other thoughts.

A dangerous entity. Damien already knew that Chaos was going to be one, but he didn't expect the gap between them to be so wide.

Uncountable years of experience, uncountable years of worship; together they culminated into a spiritual being with power that completely surpassed the bounds of the third island.

Damien couldn't give a being like that even a fraction of a second of time. No, he had to kill it by pressuring it and giving it not a single opportunity to resist. Otherwise, he would be the one dying here.

Chaos once again reacted casually, appearing elsewhere before it could take any damage. Damien was originally planning to face it with Nonexistence, but he realized that the force would be useless against this entity.

Half of Chaos' being was Nonexistence itself. The other half was the human emotion and reverence for the concept that led to its creation. If Damien wanted to use Nonexistence, then he had to morph his own energy until it was perfectly aligned with Order.

He was already following a similar path, but this wasn't like the battle with the Dragon Lord. On this field, Damien didn't have anywhere near the amount of freedom necessary to experiment in the middle of battle.

And, while the Damien over there was stalling, this iteration of him had to end this battle as soon as possible.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

He chased Chaos' movements with pure physical speed. He punched with enough force to disrupt the atmosphere, unintentionally using it as another attack method.

Chaos dodged and weaved, always staying within Damien's range as if to tell him that it was impossible for him to do anything.

The smile on his face affirmed that, and his words even more so.

"I told you. We will not fight until you have answered my question. Tell me from where you received that surname."

Damien ignored the words again and remained on the attack, but he didn't fail to hear them this time.

'My surname?'

The "Void" surname?

Why was that being mentioned now?

It was a name Damien received from his father, and his father was a hero who rose from meager circumstances to become the greatest man the cosmos had ever seen. Their surname only became something worth talking about in his father's generation, so why was there an ancient Spiritual God mentioning it like it was something important?

Damien had no way of knowing what kind of answer Chaos was even looking for, so rather than focusing on it, he attacked harder. Chaos had yet to do anything but dodge. Still, Damien could feel how dangerous the enemy was. It was as if the moment he attacked would be Damien's end.

With that feeling in mind, he wanted to use the opponent's current arrogance against him and do some damage before his opponent decided to return fire, but…

'Nonexistence won't work, and physical attacks were futile from the start. Then…is "that" my only option?'

It wasn't something he wanted to do in this realm, but if he was willing to gamble with his life on the line, then he could try it.

And if it was the only way to defeat Chaos, then it didn't matter in the first place.

Damien's life was already on the line.

'But it's too soon to make that decision. I'll test the waters some more first, and if it really turns out that there isn't another viable solution…'

…then he'd pull out a card he was really hoping he didn't have to use here.

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