Damon had almost forgotten or rather, it had slipped his mind Lazarak was a god. A god who had built a tomb.

The tomb of lesser gods.

But then… why was he imprisoned here, in this place called Eidolon?

His confusion was warranted. Damon could have made guesses if he wanted, but that was pointless. One thing he had learned from Lysithara was simple half-complete knowledge was more dangerous than no knowledge at all.

Lazarak had explained, but Damon felt there was more to all this.

"How do we get out?" Damon asked quietly. "You've spent a long time here. You must have found a clue."

The darkness went silent for a long moment. Then Lazarak's voice came, low and thoughtful.

"I know a bit… this place is an imaginary place, which means it exists but doesn't. The stronger you are, the more physically you can exist here. But as time passes, this place begins to distort you… it eats away at you."

Damon's shadow form flickered faintly. What Lazarak said was true, he could feel it.

He was losing shadow energy fast. But strangely enough, he was also regaining it almost as quickly. The place was suffused with darkness, and because of that, his Heart of Shadow allowed him to recover just as much as he lost.

A perfect, vicious circle.

Still, that meant he couldn't reconstruct a physical body here.

'I need flesh…' he realized grimly. 'To restore myself, I'll have to devour flesh again.'

Lazarak, oblivious to Damon's dark thought, kept talking.

"We can't interact with others outside, and others can't interact with us. This place is truly insidious, I've got to hand it to its creators."

His tone was oddly dry, almost playful.

"The higher the levels, the less substance the prisoners have. Some of them have devolved completely, at the highest levels, all that remains are emotions and memories."

Damon's heart pulsed slowly, hovering in silence as he listened.

"Then escape should be easy," he said. "If we manage to reach the top."

"Hahaha! Ahh, you're so optimistic," Lazarak chuckled.

"I wish it were that simple. But those emotions and desires? They've become something else. Each one tries to consume whoever enters or leaves."

Damon was still processing that when another thought struck him.

"But you're a god," he said.

"You should at least be seventh class, right? Wouldn't you be able to destroy them easily?"

Lazarak laughed again, his voice echoing faintly through the void.

"I wish it were that easy. But this is a lower realm. The strongest entity here is limited by the rank limit of the world. I can't exceed it. That's assuming I even recover the power I've lost after sitting here for so long."

Damon felt a headache forming impressively, considering he didn't have a body.

"So, you're a god with no godly powers," he muttered. "Useless."

Lazarak made a clicking sound, clearly displeased.

"I—I have godly powers! I mean, I could fight Seraph Null if the world was on the brink of collapse! But the laws here are fragile yet harsh on outsiders… destroying the core of what keeps this world stable would bring it down entirely."

"No laws mean I can act freely."

Damon's flames flickered. That might actually be an option… if we want to escape.

"Where… or what… would that be?"

Lazarak's tone dropped to a near whisper, as if afraid of his own words.

"That, obviously, isn't it. When a god dies… the world dies with them."

Damon would have narrowed his eyes if he had any. He understood what Lazarak was implying.

"You mean kill Seraph Null. But isn't that a paradox? You can only use your full power if the world collapses and the world won't collapse unless Seraph Null is dead."

Lazarak sneered, the darkness rippling faintly around him.

"Not necessarily. There are other options. I can invade his divine domain, spread my influence there, claim a piece of it for myself. Simply put, robbery."

Damon's heart gave a dark pulse. That sounds familiar…

Wasn't that exactly what the Unknown God had done to the Goddess of Doom?

He had invaded her creation through influence, through belief gaining strength even without a name.

In Aetherus, the demon continent was filled with his many followers, and even the free lands of the Sky Continent Vuldren allowed his name to be spoken despite Temple persecution.

"You want to start a faith," Damon said slowly. "Gain followers, then fight Seraph Null?"

"I'm not the expert in godhood," he added, "but will that even work? He has the advantage. This is his world."

Lazarak laughed, soft and oddly cheerful.

"I know it's crazy. We can't succeed in such a plan it's not feasible. Only a completely deranged god would attempt that. You'd need to be cunning, manipulative, and utterly mad."

Damon didn't respond immediately. The Unknown God had done it. And he had succeeded.

"Is it possible," Damon asked, "to kick a god out completely?"

The question made Lazarak pause.

"No. A god's domain can't be taken. Infiltrating one isn't feasible, at least on paper."

He hesitated, voice lowering.

"Except… Seraph Null and I share a similar source. And I am older. Technically. To pull this off, the invading god must share a strong connection with the god of the domain. They must, in some way, be one or similar."

Damon's flames flickered curiously.

"Like a husband and wife?" he asked. "Would that work?"

Lazarak seemed thrown by the question, but he answered anyway.

"Yes, that would work. Children and Siblings too or a shared creator, or source."

Damon's thoughts raced. Seraph Null aside… I have to know. He felt that uncontrollable itch again, that urge to ask.

"Would such a method work on the Goddess of Doom?"

Lazarak trembled. For the first time, Damon sensed genuine fear from him as though the thought itself bordered on insanity.

"No… I could never achieve such a feat," he said softly.

Damon pressed. "What if a god on her level did? One who shared that kind of connection with her?"

Lazarak fell silent. When he finally spoke, his tone was grave.

"Then it would work…perhaps."

For a moment, silence reigned. Then Lazarak gasped, realization dawning like lightning.

"It would work… it could work! Why didn't I think of that? She's absolute, yes but what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?"

His laughter echoed wildly through the darkness.

"Hah! You're a genius, Damon. Thank you. All I had to do was call something, someone that could deal with the Goddess!"

"I can still do this," he said, his voice trembling with conviction. "We can."

Then Damon felt it a strange pulse rippling through the dark, followed by the chime of his system.

[You have created an Inflection Point.]

His eyes widened in realization. This was his level-up condition.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have awakened Domination Fragment: Darkness Dominate.]

"Huh... wait, didn't he already say he was going to call someone to do his dirty work before?"

Damon glanced at Lazarak.

"Hey, you already mentioned that... why are you acting like it's my idea?"

Lazarak darkness laughed.

"Hehe, sorry... I forgot... but on the plus side, I'm glad you see it too."

"That's weird." Something felt off about Lazarak, or was it all in his head?

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