Chapter 575: In The Name of Damian

Corbin wore a look of disbelief while Michael’s expression turned utterly horrified. Unlike Corbin, who still seemed unable to comprehend the significance of Damian possessing the Abyss, Michael immediately understood the situation. His gaze shifted toward Biron, and his eyes widened as the small golden horned bull rested casually on Damian’s shoulder.

"You killed Lazarus?" Michael mumbled, his voice carrying genuine disbelief.

His gaze remained fixed on Biron as the implication finally settled into his mind. Lazarus was the Prince of Greed, a full God who had survived for thousands of years, and yet Damian had just returned from the Underworld with another Sin inheritance and a new spirit beast at his side.

Michael suddenly grabbed Corbin by the shoulder, his face twisted with an expression of terror that seemed almost unnatural for an archangel.

"We need to flee.... This is not someone you can fight against. Our only hope is escaping this realm and having Lord Cyrus awaken within you." Michael grabbed Corbin to draw his attention, desperately trying to force the man to understand the danger standing before them.

However, Corbin shrugged his hand off, a deep frown appearing on his face.

"What are you talking about, I have fought him several times even if he has this we are not too far apart." Corbin shifted his attention back to Damian, clearly refusing to accept that the balance between them had changed so drastically.

However, midway into his turn, Michael grabbed him by the face and delivered a resounding slap that sent Corbin’s head jerking violently to the side. The enormous demigod staggered backward, completely stunned by the sudden attack.

"Don’t be delusional you bloody fool. The only thing that can stand against the seven deadly sins are the ten commandments. Don’t delude yourself into believing you are more important than you actually are!" Michael scolded, his voice filled with frustration. Corbin slowly turned his head back toward him, his expression one of disbelief at being struck by his own supposed protector.

Damian blinked in surprise. He had never thought he would see a day when an archangel would slap a demigod into common sense. The sight was almost amusing enough to make him forget how exhausted he was. Snapping his fingers, the Throne of Power appeared behind him in a surge of purple energy, and Damian calmly sat down upon it, resting his arm against one side while staring at the two figures below.

"I appreciate that one of you have some common sense but I’m curious. How do you plan to escape my realm zero?" Damian chuckled.

"Partial.. realm zero." Biron corrected from Damian’s shoulder.

Damian’s expression immediately twitched. He reached over, grabbed Biron by one of his golden horns and lifted the small bull off his shoulder.

"I’ll fucking strangle you if you keep getting on my nerves. What the actual fuck... How the hell did Lazarus deal with you?" Damian shook the little beast slightly as Biron’s legs kicked recklessly in protest.

Biron struggled against his grip, but his small body was completely helpless against Damian’s strength.

Michael frowned while glaring at Damian. Even now, the Prince wasn’t taking them seriously. He wasn’t behaving as though he were facing an enemy capable of threatening his life. Instead, he was arguing with his own spirit beast while sitting casually upon his throne. Yet Michael did not feel insulted. If anything, he considered Damian’s arrogance an opportunity.

Without wasting another second, Michael grabbed Corbin by the collar and pulled him toward himself. Golden light erupted around both of them as his divine energy surged outward. In the next instant, the two figures transformed into a beam of golden light and shot away from Damian at tremendous speed.

Damian frowned as he watched them escape, but he made no attempt to chase after them. There was no need.

As long as they remained trapped within his Partial Realm Zero, they stood no chance of surviving what was about to come. The darkness surrounding the Vatican had already severed their connection to the outside world, and Damian had no reason to waste energy pursuing them when the entire realm itself remained under his control.

His attention instead shifted toward the city below, and the amusement disappeared from his face. His gaze became cold as he looked across the Vatican. The priests and deacons who had gathered outside earlier were nowhere to be seen, but something else was happening beneath the city.

A divine presence was slowly gaining power, and Damian could feel countless sources of divine energy converging beneath the buildings.

"The entire Vatican is going to cast divine arrays to subdue me." Damian said calmly, his eyes narrowing lightly.

If this had been the Damian from the past, he would have ignored them and allowed them to launch the first attack, believing his overwhelming power would be enough to crush whatever they prepared. But that Damian had learned a painful lesson in the battle against Lazarus. Arrays could weaken even Gods when properly prepared, and he had personally used them to bring down one. He would not give his enemies the same opportunity.

Damian stretched out his hand, and the black lantern appeared in his palm. The moment it materialized, he felt a powerful suction force coming from within it, as though the lantern itself had sensed the divine energy gathering beneath the Vatican.

Damian’s eyes widened slightly in surprise before he simply allowed it to happen.

Buzz!

A powerful suction force erupted from the black lantern, spreading across the entire Vatican. Golden light began pouring from every corner of the city and streaming toward Damian’s raised hand.

The energy came from countless divine arrays hidden beneath churches, buildings and underground chambers. Damian could hear muffled cries coming from people hiding inside the buildings as they realized something was terribly wrong. The arrays they had spent so much time preparing were losing power faster than they could gather it.

"Interesting..." Damian mumbled as the black flames surrounding the lantern grew increasingly intense.

"As far as the black lantern exists, there can be no divine array." Abel confirmed Damian’s thoughts from beside him.

Damian stared at the lantern as its power continued increasing with every golden array it consumed.

"That’s a bit overpowered." Damian admitted. ..He could feel the overall power of the black lantern increasing rapidly as it devoured the divine energy throughout the Vatican.

"This is one of the two strongest inheritances in the universe. You shouldn’t expect less." Abel scolded.

Damian rubbed his forehead and sighed. "Alright... Alright... I’m sorry." He then shifted his attention toward the city below, and his expression immediately became colder.

Swish!

Damian’s body flashed downward, and the roof of the main cathedral shattered instantly beneath his arrival. Stone and glass fragments scattered across the enormous chamber as Damian descended into the cathedral. Within the room, the old Pope stood in the center with his cardinals surrounding him, while hundreds of priests formed another circle around them and dozens of deacons stood at the outermost edge.

Beneath all of them was a massive golden array that continuously flickered in and out of existence, its divine energy surging upward through the cathedral and into Damian’s black lantern.

Every head immediately turned toward the sky.

The moment they saw Damian standing above them, their faces turned pale and their bodies trembled. Some priests instinctively stepped backward while others tightened their grips around holy symbols. The old Pope himself stared upward in disbelief as the figure they had feared for years stood directly above their unfinished array.

"The devil!" Several people screamed in panic. "The devil is here!"

Damian paid no attention to their cries. His purple eyes moved slowly across the room, searching through the crowd with an almost detached expression. He wasn’t interested in the Pope, the cardinals or the priests surrounding him. He was looking for someone specific.

"Who are you looking for." Biron asked from Damian’s shoulder.

"The mother of my kids." Damian answered, before his eyes finally stopped upon a familiar woman standing among the priests. "Dummy."

Buzz!

Linda’s body suddenly shot into the air involuntarily. Her eyes widened as she kicked and struggled against the invisible force dragging her upward, but nothing she did could stop it. Within seconds, she was brought directly before Damian, her face level with his enormous seventeen foot tall figure.

"Damian..." She gasped, her voice trembling as she stared into his lifeless black eyes.

The man standing before her was no longer the same Damian who had disappeared from Earth more than a decade ago. His presence alone made the entire cathedral feel suffocating.

Damian didn’t respond.

Linda was slowly pulled toward his side by the invisible force surrounding him. At the same time, immense black flames erupted from the lantern in his hand, spreading across the cathedral ceiling and swallowing the remaining golden light of the divine array. The priests stared upward in terror as the power they had gathered disappeared completely into the darkness.

Damian returned his attention to the Pope and everyone else inside the room. His expression became cold and merciless as the black flames reflected within his purple eyes.

"YOUR GODS HAVE ABANDONED YOU, YOUR CHAMPION IS FLEEING AS WE SPEAK. GET ON YOUR KNEES AND PRAY IN THE NAME OF THE ALMIGHTY DAMIAN AND I WILL SPARE YOUR LIVES!" Damian demanded coldly.