Prelude [6]

It was the first time the world had faced Damien like this.

Most of them didn't even know his face. To them, he was more of a spiritual entity attached to the stories of heroes.

His act of appearing in front of them signaled more than Damien himself expected. They were mostly prepared when their leaders brought them together and told them to prepare to fight for their lives, but his image set it all in stone.

Quintillions of existences watched him, whether in person surrounding Void Palace or on screens throughout the world. They all had their eyes trained on a single man as he stood up to speak.

"This is my first time greeting everyone like this. Maybe I should start things off with a joke?" 

Damien spoke with a smile. He knew that the line wouldn't hit when the atmosphere was this dim, but it was still important. He wanted to humanize himself in their eyes, because if they saw him as one of their own, his words would resonate deeper.