Chapter 1377 Targeted [2]
Damien glanced down at the body in his hands.
'This guy was a high-rank Demigod.'
There was no way geniuses would be sent alone for a mission like the one that they were on. There was a contingency plan in the form of a high-rank Demigod that was more powerful than any of those Damien had met from the Veritas Clan group.
'If it's like this for them too, it'll be trouble.'
The geniuses were at roughly the same level. They could fight in single combat and the outcome would be unknown, but when the enemy was in a group of ten or more and supported by such a strong Divinity, the outcome would obviously be different.
'Hmm…'
He kept forgetting, but the young geniuses were Demigods as well.
'I guess this is where the massive gap between Divinities comes into play.'
Because in front of people like the corpse in his hand, people like Celeste wouldn't stand a single chance.
'She's moving in the right direction, though. Since she's been hiding her strength so thoroughly, she's the only one who can help the others.'
Celeste was definitely at a much higher level than her peers. The reason she was able to toy with Felix Straea and his group was exactly this, and since she had Damien watching her back, she had the freedom to act as she pleased.
As for the others…
'Their protectors are strong, but not strong enough.'
And the two Gods in the group…
'...are probably fighting stronger Gods.'
It was a troublesome situation.
The Veritas Clan was relatively careless in the way they handled the secret realm because its restrictions had been inviolable for so long. It wasn't their fault, but it was a mistake nonetheless.
Since the Straea Clan found a way to circumvent the realm restriction, the problem was probably much, much worse than Damien and Celeste were thinking it was.
'If so, we need to move asap.'
He glanced down at the ground, where Celeste was just finishing up her interrogation. She'd gotten a decent amount of information from the dying Straea Clan genius, but it wasn't nearly enough to make a difference.
Damien disappeared and reappeared near her as she cut the throats of the last two men left alive.
"What did he say?" He asked.
"Only general direction," Celeste responded.
"That's enough. Guide me and we'll get there in time."
She glanced at him strangely, but nodded regardless.
The first was the location of Rebecca Veritas and Hugo Veritas, who were traveling together. They were the ones protected by Harutos and Regalia Veritas, the Sixth and Seventh Elders of the clan.
They were towards the west, a location closer to the barrier stele but still not close enough for it to be relevant.
Damien didn't need much more information other than direction. He grabbed Celeste with his mana and pulled her along as he moved through the spatial layers, providing her cover so she didn't get affected by the teleportation.
"What's your true level?" Damien asked as they moved.
"I'm not sure," Celeste responded succinctly.
Damien nodded. He figured this was the case from the way she fought. She didn't seem to use laws as much as she should have, but her laws were so deeply ingrained in her attacks that she could fight like a mortal and still show the combat power of a Divinity.
It was an inherent thing. Celeste herself didn't have much control over those laws, but they would support her as they were needed, so her not knowing her actual strength made some sense.
"Did you see anyone that could be a threat?"
The next question was the important one. Even if she didn't know her power, she definitely had the instincts of a hunter.
"No."
Her response was just as simple, but it was enough.
"Good. Handle things on the ground while I help the protectors. We'll reconvene when both battles are over."
With that sentence, Damien vanished from Celeste's vision, and suddenly, her blurred surroundings became filled with the sound of weapons clashing and mana being thrown around.
She was already on the battlefield, conveniently placed on a tree branch above the commotion.
'That man…'
She shook her head.
He was more than she expected, but she could ask him about that later. For now, she had a task to accomplish, and she would complete it without fail.
As expected, the two Veritas geniuses were surrounded by over twenty enemies, battered and bloodied as they desperately fought back.
Despite their state, their protectors were nowhere in sight.
'If so…'
Celeste drew her bow.
She had to give them an opening to exploit. After that, she could intervene as she was needed.
Ten arrows whizzed into the air as one. They synchronized their movements and danced through the environment like a flock of birds making their way towards their prey.
The battle below was fated to change from that point.
As for what was happening in the sky…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
It couldn't be heard from the rainforest due to the natural barrier created by the canopy, but the high-rank Demigods were having quite the battle above said canopy.
There were two of them on the enemy side, while there was only one remaining from Veritas.
As Damien approached, he first took a second to understand the situation.
'Regalia died. It was probably an ambush. Harutos has been holding them off on his own since then, but he won't be able to end this battle.'
The most he could do was stall them, but that was fine.
He stalled long enough.
Help had arrived in the most unexpected form.
A shadow appeared behind one of the enemy Demigods before anyone knew what was happening.
The state of their battle beforehand didn't even matter, because the second that shadow showed itself, it was already over.
A hand was placed on the enemy Demigod's back.
BANG!
A pulse of mana flowed through his body and invaded his soul.
Both crumbled to dust in an instant and were swallowed by a terrifying black energy not long after.
High-rank Demigods.
They weren't a match for Damien anymore.
It wasn't because he grew in power. No, his power growth had actually stagnated.
It was because he finally got used to the Heavenly World's "flow."
He understood its mana and he understood how its fate moved. With that wisdom, he could accurately mobilize his own mana in a way no other Demigod could imagine.
And his power was no longer restricted by the laws of the newfound world.
Rather than growing, he reached the level he had been at since the day he devoured the Saint Emperor.
He turned to the last remaining enemy in the sky.
"It's your turn."
That man's fate wasn't much better than his ally's. He was torn to shreds within three seconds of combat and his body was devoured by an unknown force.
Damien glanced over at Harutos, who was speechlessly standing around and trying to process what just happened, before looking at the ground, where Celeste was once again in the process of finishing up her battle.
'Not bad.'
The scale was different, but she was almost keeping up with him. It was impressive to say the least.
'I almost want to take her as a disciple, but that's a matter for another time.'
He had the memories of those men he'd killed, so he knew where the rest of the Veritas Clan's members were being attacked.
"Harutos, help them finish up on the ground and wait at this location. If I'm not there in five minutes, use this to hide the group until the secret realm ends."
He threw a token at the man that contained both the location he had in mind and an array formation he specifically made for concealment and protection long ago.
Harutos nodded subconsciously, and by the time he realized what he'd agreed to, Damien was already gone.
His thoughts were similar to Celeste's.
Damien Grey was definitely a greater man than any of them realized.
And perhaps he would be the key to saving the Veritas Clan from tragedy!
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