Darkness!
Profound!
All around him was filled with thunder, thunder so deep and oppressive that Daniel instinctively felt a sense of suppression the mont he arrived.
Yet this was not ordinary thunder; these bolts of lightning carried the power to wound the soul itself.
Of course, Daniel’s soul at present was already unimaginably strong, and such strikes could not truly inflict any permanent damage upon him.
Even so, they brought pain, and that pain was not easily ignored.
Exile—this place truly lived up to its na. It was no place that could be called good.
When Daniel finally gathered his bearings, he realized that he now stood in a space unlike any other he had ever stepped into.
Surrounding him was nothing but a great void, an emptiness akin to the boundless expanse of a cosmos stripped of all stellar light, a hollow sensation of infinity.
After confirming his arrival, Daniel imdiately opened his task list.
His eyes swept over the quests displayed there, and he noted that he was only missing one final plane. His journey was nearing its completion.
He cald his mind, and without hesitation summoned forth the Tree of Faith at his side.
With its appearance, the Exile Plane lit up in his mind, becoming a brilliant point of resonance within the sea of his consciousness.
Only after securing this connection did Daniel turn to properly observe the space around him.
And there was nothing. Truly nothing.
The space extended into endless void, with no borders, no shapes, no landmarks, and nothing of value to set it apart.
It seed that the very essence of this Exile Plane was to embody eternal emptiness.
Daniel narrowed his eyes and invoked the Eye of Insight.
Yet even with such a powerful perception, the result was still the sa—void, and nothing but void.
Just then, a warning flashed before his eyes.
[Warning: You are being assimilated into the Void. Estimated ti until complete conversion: 30,000 years.]
"...?"
Daniel froze for a breath, surprised at the ssage.
So the Exile Plane contained this sort of rule—an assimilation effect capable of transforming all matter into void itself.
It was indeed frightening, but also sowhat laughable.
The process was far too slow. For soone like him, such assimilation would never reach completion before his natural end.
Unless he deliberately lingered here for tens of millennia, this effect posed little real threat to him.
Still, it explained the cruel nature of this dinsion.
A world of nothingness that eroded all things into itself—such was Exile.
Daniel soon realized that searching for resources here would be futile.
This was not a realm ant to provide material gains.
His hope of finding rare substances evaporated completely.
With a sigh, he prepared to use the Tree of Faith to reconnect with the outside planes and leave.
But just as he was about to depart, his Eye of Insight caught a glimpse of sothing strange. Living beings.
His perception brushed against them, and he was stunned.
These creatures were bizarre in form, their bodies half-translucent, as though much of their physical existence had already been devoured.
One figure was nothing more than a floating head, with all other parts of the body lost to erosion.
What shocked Daniel even more was not their ghastly condition, but their behavior.
These beings drifted aimlessly, and although so were incredibly close to one another, they had no interaction at all, no recognition of each other’s existence.
It was as though they lived in separate realities.
Daniel furrowed his brows, diving deeper with the Eye of Insight.
Soon he perceived the truth: the structure of the Exile Plane was layered.
Its space was stacked upon itself in countless folds, overlapping dinsions like pages of a book.
Each being occupied a different page, a separate layer of existence.
Though they floated re steps away in distance, the barriers between layers rendered them invisible and intangible to one another.
That was why, without his Eye of Insight, Daniel would have perceived only void, and nothing else.
At that mont, however, sothing changed.
The Tree of Faith had taken root here, and by its very nature, its presence could be sensed by every being across the entire plane, no matter their page, no matter their layer.
And so, after drifting endlessly for who knew how many years, perhaps decades, centuries, or millennia, these lost souls suddenly felt the light of the Tree.
For the first ti in ages, they saw hope.
"A great tree—look! Over there!"
"That is light, that is the power of hope! Could it be salvation at last? Could this be the end of my tornt?"
"Please, I beg of you, free from this place. I cannot endure this suffering any longer!"
Their voices rose like a tidal wave, frantic and desperate.
They sward toward the Tree of Faith, moths drawn to fla, heedless of their condition, heedless of their strength.
Daniel’s Eye of Insight evaluated them in an instant.
These pitiful creatures, though worn down to hollow shells, were no weaklings. Each one of them had been powerful in life, with levels surpassing 300. Yet even so, Daniel felt no urge to save them.
But in their pleas, sothing of value erged.
"Spare ! If you lead out, I can tell you of treasures I left behind in the Infinite Sea!"
"Forget treasure—release and I will make you a devotee of god Himself!"
"..."
The cries overlapped, a cacophony of promises.
So swore to yield divine thrones, others offered treasures, secrets, or allegiances.
Daniel could feel their hysteria through the Tree of Faith, emotions as wild and fevered as a storm.
And he understood.
How could one endure drifting endlessly in a void without beginning or end?
Isolation lasting centuries, even millennia, without the faintest hope of escape—it was no wonder their minds teetered on the brink of collapse.
Even the most steadfast of awakeners would eventually succumb to such loneliness.
Then ca a particular voice, trembling but distinct amidst the clamor.
"Save , I beg you. I am the devotee of Moon Goddess Luna. Bring out of here, and Her Highness Luna will surely bless you!"
Daniel paused at that. A devotee of Luna? That might be useful. He filed the thought away.
Another voice rose almost imdiately after.
"I know Aurelia, the Goddess of Gold and Silver! I am her devotee. If you take out, I can make you one of the chosen, a mber of the exalted Angels of Gold and Silver!"
Daniel’s eyes narrowed sharply.
Almost instantly, his Eye of Insight locked onto the source of that voice. An angel of Aurelia’s kin. Information appeared before him:
[Na: Hardman]
[Level: 380]
[Exiled since: Year 2013]
[Description: The earliest devotee of Aurelia, Goddess of Gold and Silver, but lacking in potential.]
[ntal state: Near collapse]
Daniel’s lips curled faintly. Now this was interesting. An original devotee of Aurelia herself, though dismissed as unremarkable—such a figure could be very useful.
Plans began to turn in his mind.
"Hardman. Do you wish to leave this place?" Daniel’s voice rang through the void, deep and steady.
Hardman had long since been dulled by despair, his emotions eroded by endless years of nothingness.
His plea toward the Tree of Faith had been more reflex than intent, a whisper of hope he no longer truly believed in. Yet to his shock, his cry received a response.
"I could take you out. But there is a problem. You belong to Aurelia, and I am her enemy. I have no wish to save her devotee."
Daniel allowed the words to hang unfinished. He did not need to continue. At the sa ti, he extended his Psychic Perception, touching lightly upon the fractured thoughts within Hardman’s soul.
The angel’s mind whispered back, trembling with awe.
[Such a being, to oppose Her Highness Aurelia... could he be a god himself? Even if not, anyone capable of such power here in the Exile Plane must stand far beyond ordinary asure!]
And so the seed of possibility was planted. Daniel smiled inwardly.
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