"Do you think he can do it?" Keman asked once Varian disappeared from sight.
He didn't suspect Yami doing something off. Nor did anyone else. It required thorough preparation beforehand and couldn't be pulled off without support. And Nexus' trio would be the last to do such a thing.
Or at least that's what the ruler of genesis empire believed, like any knowledgable person would.
"No one is able to truly conquer these places." Yami remarked, somehow looking relieved. "Maybe he can but I won't bet my sliver on it."
When she mentioned 'sliver', Aridman frowned imperceptibly before switching back to a prideful smile.
Equilius, having noticed his fellow's discomfort shook his head in dismissal. He hated these idiots.
Barring some races, it's not that they didn't have emotions at all. But over millennia of suppression, they were completely buried and given no place.
Aridam, for all his pride, stopped himself from making a derisive remark about 'betting a sliver'.
For the so-called greater good, a proud man lowered his head.
'You do you. In my books, rational means self-preservation. I will save myself from Varian.'
While the old diviner felt assured of his decision, Aphosis gave an honest judgement of Varian's chances.
"Purgatory and Elysium have no rank 2 divine beings. He should be able to conquer these two places. That'd be enough. Nirvana, forget it. It was never in the plans."
His words drew an immediate response from the empress of death empire. "It'd be interesting to see one person reign supreme in both life and death as a rank 1. It was deemed impossible due to the structure of divine paths themselves. Never seen it, never thought I would see it. But here we are."
"Life is an exploration, touching on opportunities that the non-living could simply not comprehend." Keman remarked, mocking Yami in a manner that's neither too direct nor subtle.
"Oh yeah? Do you have any idea how an Undead feels?" Yami asked back with a smirk, the glow on her dark skin rising with each word.
A creepy tension filled the space and howls of the dead began to ring in every person's mind.
"Forget it." Keman shook his head with a derisive snort.
"Tch."
While the rulers had a small spat, Varian landed in the dead half of the region.
Purgatory.
The sky was pitch black and red clouds stretched until the horizon.
There was not a single patch of greenary or for that matter, any form of vegetation as far as his perception could cover. And it covered a heck tonne of radius even as a celestial.
"The air, urgh, rotten!" Varian spat on the ground trying to control his nausea.
The saliva which fell on the ground vaporized in a blink and tiny black spots exploded inside. The little bit of vitality inside was completely drained, leaving behind a fresh scent of death.
Varian squinted his eyes and glanced around.
As he took a small breath, a wave of death energy was pulled into his body which quickly tried to turn him into an Undead.
It was too obvious that he landed on the other region.
"…Why?"
Not willing to take risks when he didn't have to, Varian decided to return first and clarify the situation later.
Unfortunately for him, Equilius gave Yami some good suggestions.
"Ah?!"
A skeletal hand popped out of ground and its bony fingers pierced through Varian's ankle which was already trying to evade.
Varian's response was swift for a new divine ranker but the non-lethal attack—disguised as an Undead by Yami herself—was quicker.
Waves of red aura drilled into his body wriggling like snakes and shot up his spine, reaching his brain and heart in an instant.
The thick, ever-present death energy inside Purgatory swarmed in on him like a shark smelling blood and showed its intent to turn him into an Undead.
Varian kicked the skeletal hand away with his full power and the creature which was significantly stronger than a new low rank 1 shook violently, its bone cracking.
But it did not loosen its grip and started to pour even death essence along with the death energy.
"Now you're simply forcing me."
A red light lip up on Varian's palm and as a result of summoning the death power from the fused mini-slivers, the surrounding death energy was agitated. It flowed toward him with even more aggression and volume.
"…"
Varian silently withdrew the death power and used the glowing green power of vitality from the mini-sliver.
The skeletal hand was hit hard by a glowing green lotus and this time, it could not withstand the impact.
The death essence of the skeletal hand and the death energy powering it were both nullified by the overwhelming vitality.
Had the skeleton been more judicial and didn't throw away all its power to convert Varian, it would have survived. But the thoroughly enslaved creature didn't even have a mind of its own to think, much less act on those thoughts.
In just a moment, the skeletal hand and its body by extension turned into powder before being drained away by the death energy in the air.
"Yami did this? For what?" Varian rubbed his ankle and tried to force out the death energy.
It should've worked but the death energy all around him exerted its influence and slowed him down to a painful rate.
The death energy and essence lingered in his body, eating away his vitality and replacing it with the familiar scent of Undead.
"Fuck," Varian's eyebrows twitched. "She wants to turn me into an Undead."
It was definitely something Isadora warned him against but even she opined Yami wouldn't do such a stupid move.
But what if she did dare?
Unlike how Yami's apparently normal behavior, the typical rumors about Undead were less pleasant.
A common theme that kept repeating was how Undead viewed their way of life, well, way of death if that's a thing, as the only truth.
Maybe she thought he'd be grateful for being converted after the process. Truthfully speaking, Varian did convert into an Undead once.
It was an imperfect transformation by divine standards and yet, he was almost gone back then.
There's a good chance that any hostility toward Yami would vanish once the conversion was over.
It was a very sound plan from all angles.
Though Yami couldn't send an undead too strong lest Keman sniff it out, she did send the strongest she could.
"Unfortunately for her, I am stronger than she estimated. And by a big margin." Varian smirked.
Regardless of the conspiracy he was in, he decided to exit the place first and talk later.
"Huh?"
The sound of loud footsteps echoed across the mountains and the earth began to quake.
Varian quickly shielded himself with the power of death but noticing that using that power was pulling the surrounding death energy toward him, he used the power of space and time for hiding.
In his stead, he converted the blood that spilled out of his ankle into avatars and spread them in various directions, intending to scout the others.
Just a second later, a huge suction force enveloped all six avatars and they walked back in the same direction they went, this time as fierce Undead.
On the heads of each avatar was a octopus-like create, its tentacles drilled into the avatar's skull.
"Parasites." Varian's face collapsed.
Yami was indeed unlucky. But while gloating over her, Varian forgot that his own luck had never been enviable.