Zara walked through the mysterious underground space alone. The only other people who could access this area were either currently conversing with Damien or being held back by other forces.

Her goal was clear.

She couldn’t destroy the machines around her, as that would alert Tephit of her presence and ruin her entire plan. Instead, she had to precisely manipulate their systems to force them to malfunction.

Naturally, Zara wasn’t anything like a technological expert. She didn’t have the necessary knowledge to collapse such an intricate system with her mana.

But what she did have was guidance from someone who did.

Even Damien was a plebeian when it came to machines, but the memories he devoured gave him an extreme understanding of how these specific machines functioned.

As for where he got the memories from? In truth, it was a strange bit of coincidence.

None of the elders he devoured had the authority to enter this space. Other than Tephit and the two Great Elders, nobody else had this authority.

The one who provided him with this information…was none other than Tilis.

***

Two days prior to the start of the war, while the allied force was in the midst of finalizing their attack plans, a sudden sound transmission entered Damien’s head.

It was a request for a meeting.

Naturally, Damien found this strange. Not just the sound transmission itself, but also the fact that nobody could sense the transmission’s existence except him.

Sound transmissions, at the end of the day, were applications of projected mana. As long as one was much stronger than the person sending the sound transmission, they’d be able to sense its existence, though intercepting it was a different story.

The fact that nobody among the multiple high-level 4th class beings in their group could sense this mana only meant that the person sending the transmission was far above their level.

Out of sheer curiosity, Damien answered the call. He didn’t stop to think about the risk.

When he arrived at the meeting location, he found himself face to face with an unassuming old man.

“Are you the one who called me?” He asked curiously.

“Is there anyone else around but me?” The old man replied casually.

“Fair enough,” Damien said. “Well then, you said you had important information to give me, no? Let’s get to it then.”

The old man smiled slightly as he spoke, “child, you’re a bit too enthusiastic, aren’t you? Since I called you here, I will naturally give you the information you seek. But before that…”

The old man’s arm waved through the water, causing the surrounding water to flurry into a massive vortex that entrapped Damien.

“Show me your skill. Can you prove that you are worthy of my help?”

Damien’s eyes hardened. Though the surrounding vortex wasn’t too terribly difficult for him to break, he didn’t like the feeling of being tested.

At the same time, the old man gave him a strange vibe that he couldn’t quite pinpoint.

His eyes darted around the vortex, then back to the old man.

“I see, so it’s you.” He muttered. He’d heard from Maximus and Ria the identities of the Tephit Clan’s Great Elders.

p

Void Mana materialized at his fingertips, snaking off in different directions and sealing off the surrounding space.

‘Phase Shift’

If Material Shift was meant for physical constructs and Dimension Shift was meant for the fabric of reality itself, Phase Shift was more meant to influence the “state” of a target than anything else.

Living beings could be regressed or progressed in age, and the state of an object could be equally shifted.

In the case of water, this shift took place in its phase of matter. The terrifying vortex that entrapped Damien was forced into Phase Shift’s range. As Damien’s mana continued to spread? The vortex shifted into a layer of steam that clouded up the atmosphere.

When Damien’s display of power ended, the waters of Aquazyl smashed against each other as they attempted to fill the gap he created.

Through the resulting explosion, Tilis’ smile was especially clear.

“Mm, so he wasn’t wrong. Someone bearing ‘that’ has finally come…”

Tilis waved his hand and calmed the water. Looking at Damien, a light of admiration colored his eyes.

“For you to reach this level despite your age and background, you must’ve trained extremely hard. Mm, he must be proud.” Tilis said.

“What are you talking about?” Damien asked. Tilis’ words made no sense to him at all.

“Hahaha,” Tilis chuckled at Damien’s confusion. “Worry not. When the time comes, I’m sure you’ll understand everything that fogs your mind.”

“Tch.”

“Nevermind that,” Tilis said. “Haven’t you come here to receive information? Now that I’ve confirmed your identity, giving you information is a given.”

Tilis and Damien’s conversation began there. It wasn’t just Aquazyl or the Nox they spoke about. Their conversation mostly revolved around many broader topics, topics that made Damien endlessly interested in what the man had to say.

But of course, it began with the information Damien sought.

“I see, so it’s something like that. I figured it’d be along those lines, but nope. That boss of yours is extremely bad at his job.”

“He is the reason the Tephit Clan has been able to thrive for many hundreds of thousands of years. Is he truly inadequate in your eyes?”

Damien grinned at the question. “Not at all. In fact…that’s a very rare talent he has. Most people would go insane after the first or second possession.”

“His power can’t be underestimated, his genius mind is still growing, his talent is through the roof…anyone who doesn’t have the idea to recruit him is incompetent.”

“Oho? You have bold dreams. It’s no wonder the universe loves you…”

Tilis led Damien on a walk through the barrenness of Aquazyl’s daytime scenery. At that time, Damien suddenly noticed something.

“You…are not one of them.”

“Hm? What do you mean by that?” Tilis questioned back.

“The residents of Aquazyl avoid the sunlight like a plague. Even if they’re threatened with death, they won’t step into its vicinity. How is it that you’re still fine?” Damien asked suspiciously.

Tilis grinned. “Good question. But if you want to know why they do such a thing…”

“Do me a single favor. If you can complete it with precision, I will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about Aquazyl and the Emperor Bone Sea. “

Damien furrowed his brows in thought. A favor from an expert could never be simple. Owing someone like Tilis a favor would usually only end in downfall. After all, at their level of strength, favors weren’t something that could be denied. Especially when one achieved Divinity, the weight of their words began to directly impact their power, making it dangerous to act as brazenly as one did in their youth.

But instead of following the most natural scenario, Tilis used his favor for a single matter.

Back in the present, Zara worked to fulfill this wish. Her shadows blanketed the whole underground space and in the next instant…

She began to work on sabotaging everything as she was ordered.