"M-Master, are you going to abandon Boo already?" Boo looked up at Varian with its big eyes and blinked with tears threatening to spill out.
"Yeah, I'm abandoning you. Good luck finding another daddy." Varian knocked on its head and waved his hand.
"W-Wait, time out! Time out! This is supposed to be the part where Master has to say something touching!" Boo called out in a panic.
"Touching?" Varian turned around and looked at Boo with a puzzled expression.
"Yes, yes! That's what happens in all partings." Boo nodded vigorously.
"Alright," Varian rubbed his chin and contemplated.
Boo's eyes glowed with expectations.
"You cannot be replaced, Boo. Ever!"
"M-Master!" Boo looked at Varian with teary eyes.
"I mean, even if I go to your manufacturer, they won't give me a replacement. Apparently, they stopped your model already."
"…" Boo opened its mouth in shock and then bit Varian's leg like an angry puppy. Even if what he said was true, did he need to say it now? "M-Master is a bad, bad meanie."
"Okay, okay." Varian patted Boo lightly and pointed to the heap of precious materials he brought with the money he got from the auction.
That was the money used for the main materials. But since three of them were given by that woman and the remaining three didn't need money, he just used them all for Boo and brought him some really cool stuff.
This was all in accordance with some super design that Oob pulled from the records of Devas to manufacture a 'Cosmic Ship' of sorts or aptly put a 'Cosmic Ghost'.
"Work with the design, take the help of the craftsmen and researchers, and get in shape," Varian said with a kind smile. "Next time I see you, I want to see you in a grand ship."
"W-What?" Boo stuttered at the unexpected kindness.
Varian looked at Boo's small body and chuckled. "Bulk up, kiddo."
Even after Varian passed through the space gate, Boo kept staring in his direction for a long, long time.
— — — —
In the clouds of Hortus, an enchanting woman stood still like a fairy in the painting. Adorned in an elegant long black skirt and a mesmerizing pink top, she exuded a dangerous charm.
But even that charm couldn't help the frown on her eyebrows and the sadness in those beautiful brown eyes.
"His Majesty was busy." Alison gave an apologetic smile.
"Busy?" Sia chewed on her lip and looked at the sixteen glowing warriors down below.
Compared to the old men and women with a step in the coffin that stepped in here, there were only youthful men and women now.
"He's busy to skip meeting his wife but not busy enough to create a bunch of celestials?" Sia smiled at Alison. "Do you agree with his actions?"
"Eh?" Alison didn't expect to be dragged into this fire and raised her hands in surrender. "I'll have to draw up a plan to allocate proper work for them, Your Majesty. So, if you will."
She fled faster than a rocket.
"Don't scare her." Enigma's voice sounded in her mind, a bit reproaching.
"Yes, Ma'am! Your good friend won't suffer, okay?" Sia apologized with a casual expression but her frown only grew.
Sia looked at her hand and closed her eyes. In the depths of her being, in the endless darkness, she could hear it. A sigh, a growl, and a chuckle. She could feel the great being sleeping inside slowly trying to open her eyes.
The closer the being got to awakening, the more frantic Sia's divine paths grew.
Even though Sia too took the potion from Varian and acquired the so-called Primal Union Body, the blessings by devas to their 'heir' ensured that she grew faster. That's why Sarah was able to catch up with her despite starting behind.
But once this phenomenon began, the dynamic reversed.
Every day, Sia would gain more memories regarding her powers and her progress would accelerate a bit more. It was less of growing stronger faster and more of regaining lost power.
In comparison to the phase before this change, her current speed had at least doubled. And it's only increasing day by day.
"Should I tell him now?" Sia channeled her powers.
A veil of darkness covered her face and sucked all matter nearby into it like the mouth of a devil and started to grow denser.
"There's still some time. Varian is busy with something else. And you felt it too, right? His feelings…" Enigma didn't agree.
"I did." Sia clenched her fists.
The gravity around her distorted and slowly began to twist the flow of space-time.
"Our shared link fluctuated greatly…he's scared of something or someone. I could only catch a glimpse of what he felt through my spirit powers, but it was…" Sia's face paled as she recalled the sensation.
Her body froze up, her blood stopped flowing and even her soul seemed to dissipate. Someone seemed to suck out her vitality like they'd just put a straw into her being and drank out whatever kept her alive. She was in a better state compared to Sarah who outright fainted.
Sia couldn't even begin to imagine what Varian actually experienced. What being did he face that made even him so helpless and weak?
"I promise one day, I'll take revenge for making him go through that." Sia's Spirit power swept the entire Hortus.
All beings shuddered as they felt an invisible thread linking their life in someone's hands, like puppets linked to a puppeteer.
If Varian was here, he'd be surprised.
Sia reached high rank 1 in her three paths. But Sia felt that she was not growing stronger, but merely regaining lost strength. The sensations were telling her, that she was just retracing a path she forgot, like a swimmer reacquainting herself with swimming by diving into the pool after many years.
"You fox, why did you run away? Come continue the fight!" Sarah's voice rang from Sia's bracelet and a sigh escaped her lips. "Here she goes again…"
