Can I handle it?
Nial was not sure where Damian's confidence had come from, but the Late God of Darkness was 100% certain that it would take an eternity before he would meet Hoert.
It was very unlikely that his family and beloved would still be alive after an eternity. Their descendants were likely to be alive, but Nial was mostly worried about his beloved ones. That was the whole reason why he had focused on becoming stronger.
Thus, he had been a little stupefied for a while after the Late God of Darkness told him that he didn't have to pay too much attention to Hoert's existence, not at this moment at least.
It was a surprise, but certainly not something Nial disliked too much.
When Nial and the Undying encountered Hoert's presence for the first and only time, both had been shocked to the core. The Undying had also given his utmost effort to become stronger as quickly as possible.