"Y-You…" Cyris didn't know how to react. She hated him for destroying the abyssals. Equally hateful was his audacity to make her work for the very man who destroyed her race.
"As the contract stipulates, I give you the answers I promised." Varian said.
"No, I don't need the answers. I alrea—" Cyris yelled at the top of her lungs, voice hysterical and mind chaotic.
Unpetrubed, Varian continued. "The race responsible for the extinction of abyssals is humans, their location is Kingdom of Elysium and the killer is standing in front of you."
"Stop it. Stop it. Just stop it!"
Cyris fell to the ground, clutching her head, rage and grief filling her being. Tears splashed on the floor and formed a small puddle.
"The object of your revenge is me."
"Why…Why did I have to live…for this?"
The revenge she lived for never had a chance of fruition. And even her own life could end at a whim of the man who destroyed her race.
Worst of all, if he was just a second late, she could've died and not faced any of this pain.
"If you're prepared to kill, you should be prepared to get killed." Varian's voice was plain but it sounded particularly harsh to her. "Abyssals are not deserving of sympathy. And sympathy itself is an expensive attribute to have."
Cyris raised her head and looked up at him with red eyes. "Kill me. End this hell. I don't have anything to live for."
"Revenge is only one part." Varian shook his head. "The less important part compared to the Revival."
"I…I cannot revive a whole race, my path does not support and no one in the genesis will help revive a jai race. Even more so now that the empire has fallen."
"Perhaps." Varian shrugged. "As you said, things are very difficult. But you are much closer to achieving it than Haedon ever did."
"Can I…?" Cyris looked at her hands and clenched them tight.
"I'd like to know," Varian looked up at the endless expanse of space, voice tinged with a hint of doubt. "Can the determination of one individual win against fate. So, keep fighting."
Before she could say anything else, he vanished.
Varian's perception passed through a few hundred star systems under attack and caught another secret realm.
A few princes and princesses with foresight had escaped with survivors into secret realms.
Since the alliance didn't specialize in the paths of space and time, they were able to remain hidden so far. They were perhaps biding for the chaos to end before they relocate elsewhere.
"Huh?"
"He noticed us!"
"Who's that being?"
Beyond the inner space, inside a secret realm that housed a trillion beings of various races, the expressions of a few Jai powerhouses crumpled.
The leader of the synthetic world, one of the few alive peak rank 1s, Samus, paled and staggered back.
"H-He…"
Samus couldn't see the person whose aura found them. But he could sense that aura. And he'd never forget it.
'He killed Leader Samael!'
This monster killed the kind hearted Samael Astreas who took him from a war zone and personally raised him.
This evil bastard was the reason for the death of the three leaders which triggered the downfall of them all!
'He'll not let us go! He'll slaughter us! He'll kill everyone!'
Samus swallowed his dry saliva, eyes shaking with unwillingness and fear. And then, it turned into a burst of rage.
Gnashing his teeth, he growled. "Prepare to detonate the world. We'll die with him."
There was a moment of silence in the room before the powerhouses under him nodded.
It's the only honorable way to go.
As they prepared themselves for their final moments, the perception vanished. Behaving as if it never noticed them in the first place, the aura swept elsewhere.
"Huh?"
Samus blinked. Did the monster…miss?
No. There's no way. He certainl—
'Before he died, I gave Samael a million years to live out the life he sought. He went in peace. He went with a smile.'
The voice soundedin his mind without warning.
"Who? What? It's you, right? You…"
There was no more response. But Samus was sure those words were spoken.
Were they true? Were they false?
'What could this man possibly gain by lying to me anyway? If leader at least went in peace, then…'
"Prince! The detonation is set in three minutes." An old man with a weak breath but bright eyes reported.
"Stop it." Samus said and leaned against the wall of his command room. "We're…spared."
It wasn't the first secret realm Varian noticed. Nor would it be the last. He didn't bother with them.
"She's right. The secret realm is not so easy to find by myself."
If he really tried, he would be able to do it in a few days. But time was of essence. Even while he met the abyssal, his senses kept sweeping the empire for the hidden realms.
"Alright," Varian looked at the double silver ring tattoo on his hand and poured his senses into it. "Don't let me down."
The mechanism created by Sarah based on her study of Hortus' stealth worked better than expected. After just an hour of searching near the center of the galaxy, Varian found a hidden world in the core space of a coordinate.
Bad news, it's near the Silver City.
Good news, it's on the perimeter.
Even though he sensed that Hades was missing from the lineup, he decided not to show up.
On one hand, it'd be a waste of time if Asherah wanted revenge and dragged him into a battle.
On the other hand, Hades might be hiding somewhere.
"It's here."
Once he reached the coordinates, Varian dived through the inner space and reached the core space.
The chaotic gray core space seemed nothing special.
Confused, Varian checked the tattoo again. It showed a hidden world here, in this sea of gray. But his senses were percieving nothing here.
"Malfuntio—woah!"
Blue ripples flashed in front of him as he touched empty void.
"No way!"
Varian used his powers to check it but they sensed nothing.
[Be careful. It seems dangerous.] Logos warned.
Varian rubbed his hands. "It's so rare I get to jump in myself."
[Wait, what are yo—]
With a full diving pose, Varian jumped.
"Abode of Heaven, here I come!"