"You survived?" Her eyes were filled with surprise.
But contrary to what one would think, she wasn't wasting any time. A pattern of a large rose was slowly being imprinted in the surroundings while she spoke.
"If I got a sub-rank up survived every time I should've died, then I would be stronger than God Emperor a hundred times." While his head slowly attached back to his neck, Varian replied with a sneer.
"It's an achievement, really." The girl seemed offended and made a pout. If only her fingers weren't dripping with his blood, he would have thought of her as a normal child. This one was a monster in a decieving form.
"Surviving Black Rose is not something anyone can do." She continued, her eyes scanning him from head to toe as if her gaze could pierce through his secrets. "No wonder the old bastard wanted you dead."
"Equilius?" Varian gritted his teeth.
"No, no, definitely not him." The girl waved her hands and covered her face. "Oh no, what should I do now that I've divulged the client's information…hehehehehe."
The blood dripping from her fingers smeared her face and her eyes between her hands had an amusing gaze. "Maybe I should kill you to stop my reputation from going sour? Or maybe I should tie you up and torture you for a few years? Or what else…hm?"
Her voice was cold and scary, like a devil crawling from hell.
Varian noticed the huge aura formation she was building but instead of escaping like she estimated, he mocked her. "Do you have any shame to use a child's body for this? How about you use your real body? I bet you're some disgusting slimy monster with creepy eyes, loose hair and sagging skin."
"NO!" The little girl's face twisted. "I'm not a monster! You all are the monsters!"
It must've struck a nerve. She didn't even bother to wait for the formation to finish and activated it.
Truthfully, it was enough to kill even most pseudo divines. If he's being honest, this girl was truly the strongest pseudo divine he ever met.
A brilliant flood of time power engulfed Varian, threatening to disperse different parts of him to different instances of time, effectively dismembering him in a way that his healing powers would be rendered useless.
It's a powerful attack for any one in the stream of Sage Avenue. Whether the had the power of life, soul or death, they would have to confront this tide with their physical flesh.
But Varian…
"Reversal."
The power of Order and Chaos rose from his body, enveloping him in a shield. A black and white sphere clashed with a cosmic flood of red.
Then, the power of space was activated, grabbing chunks of that overflowing time power.
His own time power was added, acting like a small parasite controlling a larger host and controlling the larger quantity of time power.
Finally, the power of slivers acted again, reversing the flow of attack.
"Wh—No!"
The girl was hit by power of time.
Given how unguarded she was, it should've forced her to grow older and lose a lot of her lifespan, if not all.
But—
"Waa! Waa!"
Varian found a baby crying in front of him.
"What the heck?"
*** *** *** *** *** ***
Eshala's phantoms reached a location where Varian previously was—the place where Hortus was currently anchored.
Sneaking in as a divine ranker would've been impossible. Thankfully, this area was slightly outside the borders of the Alliance. She only needed to hide from the patrols and keep her aura suppressed.
'He's been here!'
With her senses expanded, she quickly found Varian's traces.
'Yes!'
Since she sent over 10,000 avatars across Eden to track down Varian, she naturally couldn't make strong avatars.
Normally, she could've made 10,000 mid rank 1s given her power.
But with her soul injured, she was in a precarious position. So, she only made low rank 1 avatars.
Still, it should be enough.
No matter how great of a genius Varian was, a celestial was a celestial. There's just no way he could beat even the weakest divine ranker.
And Eshala's avatar was not so weak. Even in the category of low rank 1s, she would qualify to be quite strong.
Since she already had Varian's time signature, she was able to sense it from a particular location nearby.
'Huh? Synthetic World? No, wait...'
Hortus was way more different than anything she had ever seen.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just as the princess decided to invade the world and capture Varian, three divine auras locked onto her. Three completely new divine rankers encircled her.
"Hah, no wonder he's so arrogant. He got some backing." Eshala's avatar sneered. "But do you really believe that three newbies stand a chance against me?"
A terrific battle ensued.
The fabric of space-time was ripped apart. The balance of Order and Chaos was shaken. Life and death forces swayed violently.
"No, no, you're crazy!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Three paths? Are you the perfect hybrid? Isadora! You!"
Isadora didn't stop her attacks.
"And who are you? The second hybrid? No…"
Sarah didn't bother to talk.
Both of them still recalled the time when Varian revealed he was being targeted by Princess Eshala.
They felt a terrible anger at her. But they felt even more helpless at their own weakness.
Even if it's just an avatar, a chance finally came to take revenge and wash away the shame of that day.
So, the two women gave it their all.
Miss Calamity shared a long feud with the faction of Eshala. Even in Centaurus, the two were fighting. She too had no reason to hold back.
As a result, the battle ended much much faster than even they imagined.
So that when Varian returned to Hortus, he found it in a different coordinate but as peaceful and safe as it had ever been.
What's not peaceful was the expression of Sarah and Sia who noticed what he was carrying.
"Y-You! You! Sarah, how dare you go for an external fertilization just to skip the line?!"
"Sia, you're sneaky but this is too much! I will not forgive snatching my position!"
Half of the sky was englufed in light and the other half was swallowed in darkness.
"Awww, what a cute baby, brother-in-law." Miss Calamity approached the baby with a smile. "She looks a bit like m—
ouch!"
Varian kicked her on the ass and declared before she could intentionally or unintentionally create misunderstandings.
"This baby is a pseudo divine assassin and tried to kill me. I would've died if I wasn't careful."
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Trust Me Girls!"