"Huh?" The angel tilted her head, wondering if she misheard something.
"If I can use the slivers, then I should have the chance." Clenching his fist, he said to himself. "No, wait!" Ariel cried out in panic. "Are you out of your mind? The slivers don't just fuse! It'll take hundreds of millions of yea—" Varian summoned the fused sliver of order and chaos.
Ariel scanned the slivers with caution. This time, she noticed that they weren't two but just one.
"I…it'll take 100 million years at least. And that's if the slivers have an affinity with you. Even then…"
Varian ignored the angel's kind hearted but useless advice and went straight to the source.
'How long did you take?'
Logos broke silence after five years. [Ares tribe have been trying ever since they had two slivers in hand. Devas too. I'm not sure but a few million years.]
'That soon?'
[Even I'm not sure why it happened. As strange as it sounds, I was only vaguely conscious. But…there was a reason…I can't remember. Maybe a treasure? A force? I'm not sure.
To be honest, it's mostly luck. The right things happened at the right time, for thousands of times…that's why I feel they've used up all their luck to fuse the slivers.]
Varian frowned for a moment before relaxing. 'So it can be fast or slow, depending on factors.'
[That's my experience.]
"It's decided. I'll work on fusing the slivers." A forbidden region was created in Elysium from that day. The living beings nearby would be swept by the fluctuating laws of life and death if they tried to approach.
They could at least face the laws of death and escape with loss of some vitality. But if they ended up facing the laws of life, they'd face severe complications and might be crippled for life.
Thankfully, the angel treated a few unlucky creatures in the early days and warned them to stay out of the region.
Seasons changed and the forbidden region only kept growing more dangerous.
No one knew what's happening there or whether this beast causing all the trouble would suddenly go berserk and kill them all. After a year of penance, Varian opened his eyes. In front of him were two partially overlapping green and red lotuses.
Clicking his tongue, he shook his head. "Even partial fusion is too hard."
Ariel who was keeping an eye on his condition nearby wanted to cry. She couldn't even dream of achieving this step in a million years and he did it in one. The angel began to wish she never encountered him. Even though she had seen many geniuses in her long life and thought herself above feelings of envy, this person was making her challenge her entire beliefs.
[Your experience with the mini-slivers is helping. Or it would've taken longer.] Logos spoke up.
"Hm," Varian nodded.
For the past year, he didn't challenge the Spirit King even once. Honestly, it's a first for him to spend such a long time without any combat.
He was determined to fuse the slivers before challenging the invincible foe. But it looked like he had to change his position.
"However I spin them as two sides of the same coin, they're anti-thesis of each other. The non-side of the coin, the middle of both positions, must exist for them to fuse." Varian said with a look of contemplation. [It does.]
"Yes, it does. The existence of soul is the missing piece in the puzzle of life and death. It is the balancing point between the two poles, the medium through which the two overlap, exchange and coexist."
Varian paused for a moment after saying that and raised a brow. "What about you though? What's your link?"
[…There is none?] Logos said in a puzzled tone. [If the sliver of order and chaos fused, it means there is no missing piece, right?]
"Maybe." Varian shrugged. It was an assymetry in the divine paths to not have a middle path for Order and Chaos. But if it's working, it's working. He wasn't going to complain.
"I need some more help with the soul part to increase the fusion." Varian turned to Ariel and said.
The angel had a bitter smile on her face. "My accomplishments in the soul path are much lower than yours. Not even a peak rank 1 who studied only the soul path all their life could help you."
Varian sighed and stretched his hand. Ariel sent him the medallion. He needed to fuse the slivers to stand a chance against the Spirit King. And to fuse the slivers, he still needed the help of Spirit King.
"Maybe he isn't as bad as I thought?" Varian made a light joke as he disappeared for the battle.
The bland world without land and sky greeted him with its never changing desolate atmosphere.
Unlike back then, the Spirit King didn't appear immediately. So, Varian took the chance to use the partial fused slivers of life and death upon the souls walking by mindlessly.
He was able to glimpse through the last year's memory of a soul. After throwing a few fits at the enemy that stopped appearing, the Spirit King vanished. When Varian tried to dig deep into the memory of the soul to check how it was enslaved, the world shook.
A figure glowing in sliver appeared.
"Have you been scared? Scared? Scared to come?" The speech of the Spirit King was a bit more coherent but still broken. Perhaps it's thanks to the unceasing annoyance from Varian for years, even this half retarded bastard began to speak well.
Varian expected at least a thanks but all he got were shockwaves after shockwaves.
Even though it's been a while, the tremendous waves of aura pouring out from him didn't decrease in the slightest.
As strong as ever, the being stepped forward.
"Don't you grow old and die already? You old bastard!" Varian cursed as he prepared himself.
Even though the face was made up of pure silver light, Varian felt like the Spirit King was laughing at him.
"S-Scared! Scared you are!"
"I'm not scared. Just busy."
Boom! Boom! Boom!