Chapter 1793 Death's Hold [3]

Chapter 1793 Death's Hold [3]

The water was black, dyed by the surroundings. It was a part of Death's Hold, but it wasn't always that way.

Merely, when it accepted Damien, it changed. From past to present to future, if one looked at one's memories of this place, there would always be a river. Damien smiled.

'So you accepted.'

He knew the concept couldn't communicate with him, but he was glad it accepted his sincerity.

It might have seemed improbable for him to be the only person to recognize the emotional aspect of the story in the eons that this realm existed, but it actually wasn't.

In the first place, Supreme Beings did not consider emotions very often. Damien found his humanity drifting further and further away from him with every passing day.

He was still able to recognize emotions so well because he valued them. Putting aside his love for many people and the emotions they brought him, emotions had always been important to Damien.

He remembered the depression he felt before he fell into the First Dungeon. There was a kind of raw yet naive hopelessness in his system that had never afflicted him again after that day.

When he first fell into the dungeon, he felt desperation and fear. As he progressed through it, he lost many of his emotions to madness and bloodlust.

In Apeiron, he gained them back. In the Cloud Plane, he gained an opportunity to get rid of them.

Over and over again after that, from his adventures in the Human Domain to the tales of Grand Heavens Boundary and beyond, emotions had been a big part of his journey.

However, each and every time he worried about it, ruminated over it, and overcame it.

He always managed to keep those emotions safe, even if they had to be confined to a single aspect of his life.

If it weren't for his emotions, he wouldn't have reached this point. He couldn't remember how many times the pure indifference in the core of his soul threatened to eat away at all of his emotions. However, each and every time he worried about it, ruminated over it, and overcame it.

He always managed to keep those emotions safe, even if they had to be confined to a single aspect of his life.

As someone who had such a connection to emotions, when he reached a place above the clouds where even human life was nothing to him, he did not lose those emotions and ascend in mind.

Oddly enough, what came from his energy was not necessarily a man-made structure at all.

Rather, it was nature.

The black river was soon surrounded by small critters and creatures who were not afraid of its current. The beasts who originally lived in the forest approached warily, captivated by their harmless appearances.

The ground was just black and filled with debris similar to wood chips. That changed immediately. A sprawling display of flora populated the ground and created space for a thriving environment.

Sure it was all the same black color as the rest of the forest, making it difficult to discern, but that didn't matter.

The beauty of this place was not meant to be recognized by anything other than the concept it was created by.

As Damien's power continued to thrive, Death's Hold itself began to expand. A huge clearing was made in the middle of the forest, from which a tree more massive than any other was born.

It rose high into the clouds, branching out into a complex canopy that looked more like a labyrinth than the top of a tree.

The trunk was lined with steps that spiraled it from top to bottom. They didn't serve any purpose but to make the tree accessible. There was nothing built for those steps to lead to.

The forest's vibrance was far beyond what it was before. It continued to grow as Nonexistence accepted Damien's interference.

He focused mainly on the environment since he wanted to see Death's Hold transform, but if he wanted to keep others from ruining the sanctity of the area, then he still had to create something here that signified his ownership.

Then, what could he create to scare away intruders while still maintaining the sanctity of the forest he created?

'I know.'

It was time to have a little bit of fun with Nonexistence.

Well, it would be fun for him.

For the enemies who would reveal themselves soon enough after seeing Death's Hold's changes, however...

...obviously, it was going to be the most fun they ever had. If it wasn't, then it was also fine if they just died.