Chapter 179 — Domain Of Despair

Sometimes, people never realize the consequences of their actions until those consequences arrive with devastating force, demanding acknowledgment.

Damian had built an organization. Had recruited people. Had given them purpose and direction and hope that things could be different.

But he’d never truly considered what would happen when the established order fought back with everything they had.

Had never accounted for the cruelty that power could inflict when threatened.

Had never protected the people who mattered most to those who followed him.

And now the consequences stood before him, burning in flames that couldn’t erase the horror of what had happened.

His mental state, already unstable from the Devourer Body Art’s side effects, from the hallucinations, from the accumulated trauma of two lifetimes, finally fractured under the weight.

This wasn’t the cold, calculating Mafia boss who’d orchestrated an organization’s rise.

This wasn’t the strategic genius who’d survived a portal dimension through brutal innovation.

This wasn’t even Alessio D’Rossi, the man who’d built a global criminal empire through ruthless efficiency.

This was just a sixteen-year-old boy, breaking under the realization that his choices had cost innocent people their lives in the most horrible ways imaginable.

And no amount of power, no level of strategic thinking, no past life experience could shield him from that truth.

He was responsible.

And he would carry that weight for the rest of his life.

****

As Damian broke down completely, his forehead still pressed against the blood-stained floor, something fundamental shifted inside him.

A change was taking place.

His enhanced willpower – strengthened through constant struggle, through survival against impossible odds, through carrying the weight of two lifetimes – reached a critical threshold.

His acceptance of his fault. His acknowledgment of responsibility. His willingness to face the consequences of his choices without deflection or excuse.

All of it converged in a single moment of absolute clarity.

His soul underwent a qualitative transformation.

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Will: 230 → 305

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BOOM

The sound resonated through the night like thunder, like reality itself being torn open.

Darkness exploded outward from Damian’s body, spreading in all directions, encompassing everything within a hundred-meter radius.

It was a... Domain!

The manifestation of willpower so absolute it could impose itself on reality itself.

The house remained physically present and the flames still burned the bodies.

But anyone who entered this space would see something different.

The ground beneath them would be pitch black, absorbing all light, making every step feel like walking on void.

The sky above would be crimson like fresh blood, pulsing with irregular rhythm like a massive beating heart.

And everywhere – scattered across the dark ground, hanging in the air, pressed against the boundaries – were bodies.

Corpses from both of Damian’s lifetimes!

People he’d killed! People he’d failed to save! People who’d died because of choices he’d made!

Giants torn apart! Terrorists tortured! Gang members executed! Brian’s brother’s mutilated form! Zavier’s parents locked in their final horror!

All of them were visible and all of them were real within the Domain’s boundaries.

And the emotions...

Guilt crashed like ocean waves, fear crept through the darkness like living things, anger burned in the crimson sky and sadness pressed down with physical weight.

Every negative emotion Damian had ever felt across two lifetimes, concentrated and amplified and made manifest.

This was his Domain!

Not one of power or destruction or physical force.

But a mental Domain!

One that attacked the mind itself, forcing anyone inside to experience the depths of human despair.

Damian woke up from his breakdown, lifting his head from the floor, looking around with blank confusion.

"What... what is this?"

His voice was hollow and distant.

The darkness responded to his words, pulsing, shifting and showing him fragments of memory and guilt.

He opened his status screen with a trembling voice.

"S-Status."

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Domains:

Domain of Despair

A mental Domain capable of making any person within its boundaries feel the full weight of their negative emotions and experience absolute despair.Host can use his own negative emotions to power the Domain. The more the host understands the essence of despair, the more powerful the Domain becomes.Current Range: 100 meters

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Damian stared at the new addition in his status screen and its description, his mind processing what had happened.

’I opened a Domain. When I experienced every negative emotion I’ve ever felt across both lifetimes in the span of minutes... I developed something that only A rank awakeners are supposed to possess.

And it’s a mental Domain. Rarer than physical ones. More difficult to defend against and more insidious in its effect.’

The irony wasn’t lost on him. His acceptance of weakness and his faults had manifested into... strength.

Then he remembered something. A promise made months ago when he’d first awakened his past life memories.

’I wouldn’t be a coward...

I made that promise looking at my brother’s memory.’

Damian’s expression shifted as the broken vulnerability hardened into something cold and controlled.

He stood up slowly, his body moving with deliberate precision.

Then he spread his arms wide, embracing the darkness surrounding him.

"If this Domain feeds on negative emotions... if it grows stronger the more I understand despair... then take it all."

His voice was quiet but absolute.

"Take the guilt. Take the fear. Take every emotion that’s been weighing on my mind. Take the side effects of the Devourer Body Art. Take the hallucinations. Take everything that’s been breaking me apart from the inside."

The Domain responded immediately.

Dark fog began emerging from Damian’s body, pouring out like smoke from a fire, merging with the Domain’s manifestation.

His mind understood the principles instinctively, subconsciously grasping how to weaponize his own suffering.

Every negative emotion became fuel! Every traumatic memory became the foundation! Every moment of despair became power!

The mental debuffs from the Devourer Body Art were completely erased, all of it transferred into the Domain instead of affecting him directly.

The dark fog wrapped around Damian completely, obscuring his form.

To any outside observer, he would appear as a figure standing on black ground, surrounded by flames that burned with dark fire, reaching toward a crimson sky.

The Domain pulsed with concentrated despair, with accumulated emotions given form and purpose.

Then... Damian snapped his fingers.

Snap

The Domain folded inward, the darkness condensing, the manifestation retreating back into Damian’s soul where it would wait... until called upon again.

He found himself back to reality.

Kuro stood nearby, his red eyes wide with concern and awe, having witnessed the entire transformation through their bond.

Damian said nothing for several long moments. Just looked at the remains of Zavier’s family, now reduced to ash.

He felt... stable and clear-headed.

The guilt was still there, the responsibility still acknowledged... but it no longer threatened to overwhelm him.