Varian was already halfway across the galaxy. The nasty injury on top of his weakened state made it impossible to win against Hades and Ophion.
With this new injury, he’d need over 30 hours to recover back to his peak.
Thankfully, there were only the warships of Nexus and Genesis Empires roaming the region. After Varian ’vanished’ every undead in Jai out of existence, both of these invaders were behaving cautiously.
Even if someone did detect him, they wouldn’t try anything. Such was the deterrence of his act.
Hades, even at the height of high rank 2 wouldn’t be able to replicate Varian’s feat—it needed a mix of paths and their masterful application.
Unlike his usual travel when he transversed entire galaxies in mere steps, Varian was moving slow.
[Go slower. You’re overexerting yourself.] Logos still felt it was too fast.
In his current state, Varian would have a hard time fighting against even Rakz.
(Var, Hades is about to hit high rank 2 anytime now.)
The dark, deep space around him continued to blink in and out of existence as Varian kept teleporting.
’Hades being an enemy isn’t an issue. But Ophion...’ Varian didn’t naively believe alliances meant loyalty.
But he expected Ophion to stick with him for his own mutual benefit.
Were slivers important? Yes. They’re the most precious treasures in cosmos.
But were they better than Varian? No. A few more years and the whole of Eden would bow down to him.
Varian reaching a peak rank 2 was a foregone conclusion. And he always treated his own people favorably.
Even the humans who revolted against him were spared. He even saved them and built them Elysium, a safe haven.
Just based on the alliance, they could always ask him for mini-slivers or even help with breaking into a higher rank.
But they foolishly wanted slivers.
’Keman and Yami had the slivers. But they never reached peak rank 2. Do they really believe they’re better than them?’
Not just that, once Hades broke through, he’d set his sights on Genesis and Nexus. Was Ophion so dumb he couldn’t see the most obvious thing?
[He is the Snake of Chaos.]
"Ah!" Varian grunted.
No wonder Ares tribe and Devas got killed. These chaos-aligned guys were retards.
A few minutes later, Varian reached the Pala kingdom.
And then, Hortus.
"""Varian!"""
Sarah, Sia ad Enigma appeared just as he entered the world. Faces pale and eyes puffy, the grief on their faces was evident.
Varian’s heart sank.
"What happened?" Even as he asked, he used his authority and searched for Aurora.
’Found her!’
She almost didn’t appear. The thing he feared the most didn’t come to pass. Varian breathed a sigh of relief and gave them a questioning gaze.
Enigma threw herself into Varian’s arms and said with choked sobs. "She won’t hold out any longer."
Sarah nodded with a grim expression. Sia looked at Varian blankly and slowly walked to him, before collapsing on his shoulders. "She...she doesn’t deserve this..."
Varian carried the two emotional ladies and turned to Sarah. "Let’s go."
Sarah was equally devastated, but she accepted Aurora’s death as inevitable. She had already grieved so she could be strong on the D-day.
"I’ve sent away Primula with dad and the two. She can’t witness this."
Next to the beautiful pink lake was a small, homely manor.
Isadora, with disheveled hair and pale face, was holding Aurora’s hand. The sister-in-law was staring blankly at the sky.
There was barely any life in her body and hardly any light in her eyes.
Those bright, mischievous, sometimes cunning eyes...they were now dim and about to go dark.
Varian’s heart ached and his body grew heavy. His legs seemed to be filled with lead, making it hard to move an inch.
His body tried to resist reaching Aurora. It couldn’t bear to see her like this. He couldn’t see that lively girl so...lifeless.
Yet, he steeled himself. "Aurora."
A spark was lit in those dim eyes. With great difficulty, Aurora focused her eyes and saw him.
"B-Bro...ther-in-law!" She tried to stand up and failed. But she kept trying.
Isadora gently helped her up and walked her to Varian.
As they came face to face, he was forced to see her face up close. Where had the liveliness all gone?
Varian found himself stroking her face with trembling hands. Aurora leaned forward, a weak smile forming on her delicate face.
"I thought..." She spoke, struggling to utter those few words "...you would miss...thank you...for coming on time."
Varian felt like someone knocked the air out of his chest. He looked at his wives who seemed to share the opinion.
They gave up all hope of saving her.
’I should tell her she can be saved. Once I get the shards—)
[But are you sure it would work? We never tried it. It’s all a hypothesis. If you give her hope now and it fails later, her despair would be painful to even imagine.]
With Logos’ intervention, Varian stopped himself. He couldn’t give promises he wasn’t sure of.
But.
"Aurora. You’ll have one more day. A full day. And your body will be at the level of a normal celestial ranker. When your time is up, you won’t go in pain. That much, I can promise."
A bright smile blossoming on that weak face. "Really?"
Varian gently sat her down and rubbed her hair. Then, the slivers of order and chaos worked on her origin.
It had a crack when he left. Now that crack widened itself into a crater. Her Origin looked to be at the breaking point. It could happen any minute now.
No wonder...
Using the knowledge of Origin from Heaven’s tribe, Varian prevented the immediate breakdown and applied the emergency measures.
The crack didn’t vanish or even heal. But the origin itself gained some stability.
Like the final light before darkness, Aurora’s origin began to work properly.
"Haaa!" Aurora took a deep breath, aura rushing into her body.
A moment later, her pale face was rosy, the disheveled hair once again silky and her body brimming with energy.
"Yaaay!" She jumped up and looked at everyone with a cheerful smile.
They didn’t smile back.
"Come on, smile! I thought it’s already over, but I still have one more day. And." Aurora hugged Isadora with one hand and Sia with another. "I’m feeling so much energy! I can go with a smile!
Now, smile everyone or I’m going to get really angry."
Varian, exhausted from the complicated operation, tried to smile.
Sia turned her head away to wipe away the dripping tears, and weakly smiled.
Isadora’s mouth was bleeding, but she managed to curl her lips.
Sarah sighed deeply and sat down. She couldn’t smile. It’s impossible.
Enigma walked to Varian and hugged him tightly. Then, she began to cry.
Seeing Aurora so lifeless hurt. But seeing her like this hurt her even more as it reminded her what precisely was being destroyed.
Why was fate so cruel?
Varian patted Enigma’s back, but she couldn’t stop.
"Come on! Stop crying!" Aurora pulled Enigma up and wiped out her tears. But they just kept coming.
"How about I give you a gift?" She turned to everyone with a mischievous smile. "In fact, I prepared a gift for everyone."