The palace doors of Nexus violently swung open.
Aphosis, Aridam and Equilius seated with their real bodies showed no abnormal reaction to a crime that would warrant death.
Rather, Aphosis commented in his plain tone.
"You're late."
"No, you covered up his traces well." Kema Aurik barged into the throne hall.
"And why is that? When you know it'll only delay the inevitable for a few days?" Yami walked in an elegant manner and said with a charming smile. But her eyes were dead cold.
"The successor of slivers is deemed to be the best for the plan." Aridam said with a nonchalant expression. "Nexus backs him."
"Better than Immortal." Keeper Equilius added his line to not show any inner conflict.
"Ridiculous!" Keman clenched his fist and the entire palace--which could even withstand a full blow from Aridam, broke into pieces. "This is not up for you to decide. This is for us to decide."
"And we have decided," Yami looked at them with a chilling gaze despite the smile on her face. "To support Immortal."
"And we are saying no." Aphosis said with a nonchalant expression, floating in the space in the middle of the debris that was a grand palace seconds ago.
"Heh." Keman pointed his palm at the man and Aphosis' body froze. Then, his skin began to shrivel and the light in his eyes began to dim.
The life and soul of the Nexus' leader were drained unilitarelly by the Master of Life.
In just minutes, Aphosis turned into a bag of bones, seemingly on the verge of death.
"That should beat enough sense into you." Keman nodded in satisfaction. "You don't have any say here."
"Heh." A sneer left the boy's dried mouth. "Maybe you forgot but emotion such as fear is foreign to us. You can kill us but it'd be sensed by all our forces and a rebellion will ensue. Your forces surely can kill everyone but the chaos that will unfold would ensure that the Jai Empire would have no problem ending you."
Keman gritted his teeth and waved his hand violently.
Aphosis was blown back, flipping in space, but he was back to his normal self of a young boy.
Yami narrowed her eyes. "Do you think we can't find his hiding nest? The only reason we even bothered to talk this out is to give you a chance to atone for your sins. Give that brat and end this farce."
Aridam stepped forward. "I know this is difficult for you to understand but Nexus will support him to the last breath. The boy has awakened 2 years ago and he--"
"Awakening?" Yami gasped. "You mean a race so lowly that they aren't born with a path? Absolutely pathetic!"
Aridamn sneered. "2 years and he's peak rank 9. Yeah, real pathetic."
"...what did you say?" Yami tilted her head, the glow coming from her body fluctuating violently.
"I'm sure you don't have a hearing ailment, My Lady. Peak rank 9 in two years. His bone is just reaching 20.
If Immortal is a star, this boy is a supernova. There is no comparison between the two. Should there be a chance for us to ever survive against the invincible God Emperor, the bet should be on this boy."
Keman and Yami looked at each other for a few moments before turning to the Nexus trio.
"He is a better choice but that's why it's suspicious. Even with slivers, those achievements are too ridiculous. Maybe the God Emperor himself helped the boy."
"And why would he?"
"To trap us, what else?! If we bet on that boy, give him the slivers and the boy just betrays us, wouldn't it be the easiest war for the God Emperor?" Keman clenched his fist.
"...That's a good question but he is from a remote part of Genesis. He isn't even born in the Jai Empire."
Yami let out a mocking laughter. "Since when did mere distance matter to the God Emperor?"
"Immortal is born from us. If nothing else, his loyalty is guarenteed." Keman continued.
"A valid point but how about you give Varian a chance to prove his loyalty?" Aphosis said.
Aridam nodded. "Imagine we bet on Immortal instead of Varian and we lost. Wouldn't we all regret it? Well, if we stay long enough to regret. But what do you say? The situation is dire and we need a champion."
The rulers of Geneis and Mors fell silent before Yami opened her mouth. "God's Eye."
"But it's too dangerous to go there. You just want to kill, don't you?"
"We'll send him there with Immortal. Both of them will hide their identities. This time, Immortal will be given partial power of slivers to not get disadvantaged. If that Varian dares to go, manages to survive and return, we'll consider him to be a useful "
"Call him now. It'll start in three more days. Since he's going to die anyway, I want to take a look at the one who stayed hidden for so long." Keman said.
Aridamn pursed his lips.
They agreed and even proposed a test, fine. But what if they discard everything and just rip the slivers out of Varian?
There's no such thing as integrity to living beings after all. Oh and the dead too.
Vampires, a race among the Undead, were notorious for being cunning and disloyal.
As for the race in living beings? Heh! Somehow, all their species had a degree of expertise in breaking integrity.
"Don't give me that look." Keman twisted his face in disgust. "That boy managed to beat Immortal only because he had the power of slivers. On an equal ground, Immortal can crush a hundred like him."
Yami nodded. "Immortal is unique throughout creation. There is no one like him. But this boy made us reconsider our decision. So, I am curious too. How does he look like? What is the scent of death on him? How many trillion did he kill? Which flavor and thickness of blood does he li—"
"Errr, he is a living being." Aridamn interjected before she went on with her weird undead cuisine.
"Pathetic." Yami spat and crossed her arms. "Call him anyway. For you all to support him with enough to go against us, he must be special."
"Alright." Aphosis nodded and activated the symbol that he gave Varian.
It was a triple-purpose charm.
One, for Varian to contact him.
Two, for Varian to get here directly.
Three, for him to call Varian here…directly.
As long as Varian didn't resist enough, he'd be dragged here. And being a non-divine ranker, even inside Hortus, he could not resist anyway.
Shuaa!
"Du! Da! Dududududu! Shuaaa!"
Varian fired violent shots with the toy gun in his hand and raised his paper shield before yelling.
"Primula, help! The Red Turtle Thief of the galaxy need your special double plasma gu…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Aphosis, Aridam and Equilius looked at Varian with a wide, dumbfounded gaze. Keman's and Yami's jaw dropped before they looked at the Nexus trio with a look of contempt.
Recognizing his location a moment late due to the vast power difference, Varian put away his hand crafted gun and red flower shield before rubbing the back of his head.
"Haha, ahahaha! I was playing, playing with a child, ahahahaha."