A thousand years have passed.
Sarah, Isadora, Sia and Enigma were worried in the beginning.
After repeated confirmations through their synergy links that Varian was fine but indefinitely unavailable, they decided to enter a deep seclusion.
It's akin to a deep sleep and for divine rankers, it was not so difficult.
The forbidden regions of Hortus, the laboratories built by the Primordial Gods themselves and still contain bits of their power, were used as the source for their seclusion.
And while they were at it, Miss Calamity sneaked in like a cat and joined them. They noticed her presence early on and let her be.
A thousand years was not too long of a time for the divine rankers but the rulers of Genesis and Mors were dissatisfied.
Unlike Varian who disappeared in God's Eye, Immortal and the team managed to leave safely.
They, no, specifically, Immortal himself was given the credit for annihilating the team of Jai Empire.
Keman and Yami waited for Varian's appearence for a few months to let Immortal and Varian fight it out.
Varian's disappearance caused them to suspect his loyalties and their stance only intensified.
They decided to let Immortal integrate with the perfect hybrid and proceed with their grand plan.
It's something that should've happened within a year.
Nexus intervened. Aphosis had used his powers just a little to help erase the traces of Hortus for a while.
Hortus was already sneaky enough and only got caught due to the aftermath left in Varian's killing of Fabricator.
With Aphosis' actions, Hortus was lost for the rulers of the alliance. They tried their best but they could no longer find any traces of Hortus.
On the other hand, it gradually became clear that Varian had neither died nor desserted but was trapped in God's Eye somehow.
Immortal, who had the greatest chance of finding the perfect hybrid due to their innate nature, vowed not to even attempt any search until he killed Varian and washed away his shame.
He went into a seclusion, mastering the power of slivers and enhancing his innate powers. Having long reached the peak of pseudo divine, he's said to be the strongest below the divine.
During these thousand years, the Alliance itself hadn't changed much overall.
The Jai Emperor provoked a few more low intensity conflicts. The 7th Prince had been raging, growing fiercer and fiercer with each conflict.
The Alliance was basically prepared for a long term war at this point.
What's not expected was the sharp, deadly and brutal assassinations carried out by the network of spies deployed under Princess Eshala.
It didn't seem like the normal operations of the princess. It felt different, as if the operations were merely a means for something else. They felt like a statement to someone. And that someone didn't seem to reply at all.
The other pillar of the Jai empire, 2nd Prince, Victor Earendel, was tormenting the alliance.
As the leader of the Conqueror faction, ordering the main army to war depended on his discretion.
While the 7th prince's forces were elite and tiny in number compared to the Alliance's forces, the 2nd Prince controlled most of the Jai army and could decide war or peace in a snap.
Negotiations were held, broken down and held again as various kingdom-scale conflicts continued. Only twice did the situation slip into the state of an all-out war.
Strangely enough, the 2nd Prince held back.
It wasn't in his nature to exercise restrain in such conditions. No, he was someone who would rather cripple a billion more of his own to take more lives of his enemies.
So, the rumors went that it was the decision of God Emperor himself.
No one could verify the rumors. Or for that matter, any news regarding the God Emperor.
Keman and Yami were still sweeping the entire alliance, trying to lock down the location of Hortus. They decided to grab the perfect hybrid for integration despite Immortal's objection.
With each passing day, they were getting closer to that objective.
While the Alliance didn't change significantly as a whole, much had changed for the Pala kingdom.
From the very top of the structure, Pala kingdom itself underwent a massive shift no one even dreamed of.
The so-called talent which was supposed to be innate turned malleable. Hard workers gained more talent and rose to the top of the pyramid.
Within a thousand years, an entirely new generation of powerhouses sprung up. Compared to the entrenched nobles who tried to keep up, these guys were several steps ahead.
Now, not to mention the crown prince candidates who were all from normal backgrounds, even the future dukes were likely to be people from common families.
The distinction between Spirited and Spiritless was erased forever.
Of course, a new problem arose that Varian didn't foresee.
People…started working too hard. The society of Palarians which was relatively laidback became competitive. Not just in the issue of divine paths but in every single aspect.
As a result, the stress on an individual who might've lived a normal life before had grown to a tremendous level.
The fact that they had the power to change their life but failed to do it was a bitter pill to digest.
People tried hard to fit into this hypercompetitive society.
Some succeeded. Some failed.
It was a struggle of its own.
Centaurus Province experienced a development that its citizens would've never dreamed of.
The reason was two fold.
One, the reforms implemented by Baldur. To put it in plain words, he slaughtered all the stupid nobles who were stopping the new geniuses from rising up.
As of today, like always, corruption still existed. But it didn't block the aspirations of people.
Two, Miss Calamity's name. Even though she had stayed long back and supported this place a full thousand years ago, the news of her advancement to divine ranks was enough to make the impact.
Finally, the biggest changes of them all was in Hortus itself.
20,000 years passed in Hortus.
Everything changed.
…Everything.