Varian felt complicated to be protected by someone who just put him through torture just moments ago. "He's not your subordinate. Are you his subordinate?"
Victor's words were accompanied by creation of giant blackholes that trapped them from leaving. Eshala created two spheres of time, one around herself and the other around Varian. Temporarily, the suction force of the blackholes would be skipped over using the power of time.
"I thought you stopped having children. Is he a new donor?" Samael asked with a polite smile, turning to Varian with a formal Jai greeting gesture. "Brother-in-law?"
"Samael!" Eshala's voice sank and her aura fluctuated violently.
"Yes." A smirk formed on the 7th Princes' face. When Eshala realized what he had just done, a space storm already raged in the region.
"Block!"
The time domain suffered it faced the attack of a peak rank 1 head on. Victor brought his hands together and the massive blackhole began to move to the center. The already dark space turned completely pitch black.
The time domain began to break down. The hourglass on Eshala's hand glowed and the world split into multiple frames, each frame representing an instance of time.
Eshala's face paled and she jumped into a frame.
Varian was pulled along with her and before he even knew what was happening, the darkness around him vanished.
"He's not your subordinate. Are you—huh? Did you reverse time?" Victor raised a brow.
It's a very difficult thing to do. But if certain conditions were met, it's possible. However, if the opponents also had a certain proficiency of time path, they'd realize that time was reversed.
And if they were even somewhat close to the one who made the reversal of time in proficiency, they could hinder it.
Neither the 7th Prince nor Victor were half as good as her in time path. So, they had no chance of intervening. "That treasure is only reserved for wars!"
Ignoring his outburst, Eshala grabbed Varian and activated the hourglass. The flow of time changed for the two of them and without needing her to remind him, Varian activated the power of space. "Stop!" The blackholes weren't set up yet and the space-time curvature of the region hadn't yet fallen into their control.
Victor couldn't let them escape now. The 7th Prince waved his hand, a space storm raging over the surrounding space. Varian's teleportation was mostly broken despite him having a head start to act.
But it wasn't completely futile. Varian and Eshala managed to escape for now. They couldn't avoid being chased though. The chase continued for a few minutes as they travelled truly interstellar distances.
'Why aren't they coming already?'
Samael and Victor were about to catch up with Eshala and Varian. A few more seconds was the most those two could buy. But what the two princes didn't understand was the absence of rank 2 powerhouses.
They should've shown up by now and tackled Varian. Why wasn't it happening?
On the other hand, Eshala looked at the formation that Varian repaired while being chased. 'Monster! This guy is a monster!'
There's no other way for her to describe his actions. But she's glad this monster was on her daughter's side.
"We can't keep running." As they jumped from one corner of the galaxy to another, Varian said in a tired voice. Eshala's face stiffened. Yeah, even if he's a monster, he's not grown up yet. "I will block them both and buy you time. Get into alliance and call for help from the rulers. No one from the alliance dares to step into Jai empire. As long as you cross the border though, you'll be safe."
Varian looked at her for a moment and shook his head. "No. You're too weak for that. I have a better plan."
She disagreed at first. But realizing that she couldn't just send him away, Eshala selected a suitable place where the space-time curvature was incredibly resilient, dampening the possibility of creating blackholes.
She couldn't select an environment hostile to both the princes. But doing so for one person was still possible.
Varian activated the formation. Unlike Eshala, he was able to make full use of it with the slivers.
"It can hinder one prince's strength significantly."
From [99] to [98]. A single digit. But it would make an impossible enemy into a bearable one. "The one who gave me the formation was really angry at you, wasn't he?" Eshala asked as she prepared time arrays.
"That old bastard." Varian gnashed his teeth. Equilius went too far. Not just giving these princes information to get him killed, he even gave Eshala a very powerful formation.
Varian was now certain that Equilius did not recognize Primula. After dissolving the curse, her aura completely changed and even her appearance was much different from Black Rose. 'He contracted her to kill me. It'd have been perfect for him if I died. And even if I didn't die, he could use the fact that I killed Primula to let Eshala kill me.'
It's a marvelous plan, one only an old fogey like him who lived too long could think of.
But he even would have not expected for Varian to adopt Primula instead of killing her.
Perhaps in his mind, Varian was a ruthless killer. He exterminated abyssals to the last member, killed his grandson and responsible for many, many things.
How could such a man show compassion to an assassin who tried to kill him?
In Equilius' lens, there was no possibility for Varian to do such a thing. It's against rationality. But that's where he went wrong. Equilius tried to look at emotions through a completely rational lens. It would work most of the times but sometimes, it wouldn't. Unfortunately for him, it was one of those times. "After returning to the alliance, I'll have to pay him back." Varian ramped up the formation and activated it beyond advised capacity.
It might break down after only one usage but he couldn't afford to not give his all in this dire situation.
"Is the mouse chase over?" Samael and Victor appeared with a frown.
Eshala was tense, as expected. And Varian showed fear. But for a brief moment, the two princes felt a sense of alienation. Once they stepped into the boundary, a formation enveloped the region without warning.
"The mouse chase is over." Varian said with a smile. "The two mice fell into the trap."