Hortus never seemed so tranquil.
The bright but gentle light from the sky illuminated him, bringing warmth and comfort in contrast to the darkness spread everywhere on the Lost Spiral.
The cool breeze caressed his skin, whispering sweet nothings and relieving him of the tension pent up in body and soul.
Like a child returning to the embrace of his mother, like a man returning home after a tired day of work, and like a soldier stepping back into his motherland after a war, Varian was overwhelmed by the emotions that welled up without warning.
A sense of security, peace, and purpose.
Without being aware of it, his lips curled up and his powers started to recover faster.
"Where is Sia kept?" Taking a moment to pull himself together, he asked in a worried tone.
"She…" Sarah pointed to the ruins that were also floating around in the 'space' of Hortus'. "I left her in the care of Oob."
Varian kissed her on the forehead and said. "Go rest now. I'll take a look at her and we'll figure something out. You have been through a lot already. The fight between us...it was too bru—."
Sarah covered his lips with hers and stopped him from speaking any further.
Varian felt a pain on his lower lip and glared at her. Baiting him with a kiss and then biting? She'd need to be punished later.
Licking her lips with a cunning smile, Sarah chuckled. "You should be punished for using violence against me. But we'll deal with that later. I'm also anxious about Sia's condition. Let's go together. Maybe my strength can be of help."
"Fine," Varian shrugged and raised his hand instinctually to use the space transfer.
But Sarah held his hand and shook her head. "You're too tired. Focus on recovery."
"As you say." Varian shrugged and hugged her tight.
"Hey! What are you doing in broad day light?"
"Hugging my wife."
"Y-You..."
"Didn't you say I am tired?" Varian rested his head on her shoulders and blew into her ear. "Then take good care of me, cutie."
Sarah shuddered and her face flushed. Biting her lip, she gave him a flirtatious roll of the eyes.
He wasn't wrong though. He was really too tired.
That ridiculous attack drained his body and even with his astounding regenerative factor, he might need days to fully recover. But he's in Hortus! With the blessings of the world, he's recovering at an astonishing rate.
He might need just a minute or two and he'd be up for another brutal fight. However, he didn't want to fight his wife again.
"What a shameless husband," Sarah shook her head like she was helpless about his actions and snapped her fingers.
A ripple of invisible power started from her and the world froze for a moment before everything speeded up.
When he came to his senses, he was already in front of a vast archaic palace belonging to Devas.
Varian was reminded of how the Ares tribe stole some precious things from all tribes to create that legacy—whatever it was. No wonder they were hunted to near extinction.
"Crazy bastards," Fearing he might be infected by some of their madness, Varian walked into the palace with cautious steps.
Their destination was the throne hall used by one of the strongest deva emperors. According to Sarah, the formation of the throne hall was very useful in controlling the issue.
The large double doors of the hall, made from pure green gemstone, creaked open.
"Welcome," A woman sat on the throne. Her cold, regal, arrogant yet fitting voice rang out in the hall. "I've been waiting."
Varian's body froze as he sensed death approaching. A pure sword made of utter darkness, built of a matter he never saw, reached his neck.
He could've responded had he been at his peak. But he was caught off guard and hadn't fully recovered yet.
A shield of light, made of nets of interwoven energy threads, manifested itself in front of him and blocked the sword.
The sword and the shield consumed each other, the light and darkness ate each other and only a void was left.
Sarah stood in front of him, her blue eyes cold as ice. "You want to die?"
"Oh?" The woman didn't even bother getting up from her throne. She merely raised a brow in interest and commented. "Cut some corners, gain a few ranks, and challenge me?"
"You won't be saying the same when you'll beg for mercy." A golden light began to seep out of Sarah, covering her in a holy light.
As if she was hearing a ridiculous joke, the woman scoffed. Her silver hair moved around softly with her head's light movements.
A dark aura began to leak out of her, shrouding her like she was a devil.
"If you can listen and let Sia out, we can talk this out." Sarah's aura climbed higher and higher, hitting the absolute peak of rank 6 and with it, the light. "Or I'll have to beat you into it. I hope you pick the latter because I really want to smash your face."
"My, my~" With unmatched elegance, Isadora adjusted her posture and crossed her right leg over the left.
The long black dress she wore was modest but couldn't hide her stunning beauty. She looked around 24, fully matured and at the pinnacle of beauty.
Other than Sia, Sarah hadn't seen anyone this beautiful. The elf queen and princess came close, and so did the Nymphs but there was always a considerable gap.
But this woman…
From the moment she saw her, Sarah felt a sense of oppression in every possible field. Strength, battle experience, mentality, and now even beauty.
Of course, she wasn't any less beautiful than this woman. She wasn't being narcissistic. If she was, then it's Varian rubbing off on her.
"Sia is not waking up. Neither is Enigma. I have given them so many years of my own life. They should sleep for centuries, a dozen or more. I might let them experience the world sometime. But not now. I have many things to do. But before anything else…"
With a smile, she turned to Varian. The woman's face was flawless and her smile was enough to move mountains. But that smile was cold, uncaring, and calculating. "I need to get rid of a threat and take the slivers. The universe's best treasures should belong to the universe's beloved child. That is me."
Varian's gaze hardened and he gazed into her eyes. Her bright, almost glowing, captivating red eyes. She was being completely serious.
'And I said I don't want to fight my wife…'
Even though she wasn't his wife, technically, he's also fighting Sia.
"You are smart enough to get rid of me. Then why aren't you smart to ambush me? If you can't kill me no—"
"I know, of course. Your rate of growth…" Isadora's red lips moved slowly but her voice was in control. "Is Unprecedented, to put it lightly. You might even reach the peak of celestial rank this year or the next. But it doesn't matter. The premise of your growth is you being alive."
Varian sighed deeply. "You want to kill me?"
"I'm only killing a man who descerated my pure body instead of putting him through hellish torture. Aren't I kind?"
"Sia and Enigma will hate you."
"They don't need you. They need the slivers to keep our origins from collapsing." Isadora's words were blunt.
Varian's heart tightened at her words. But the word bullets didn't stop.
"Why do you think Sia appeared in this barren land? I was born with the blessings of all slivers, but order and chaos were always lacking. I had to find them or I'd slowly die.
So, I searched the galaxy. When I sensed them near Centaurus, I was on the verge of collapse. Enigma survived in space, but she only remembers the darkness. That poor girl fears the darkness, but it's the darkness that kept the three of us alive.
Sia was attracted to you right away because of the slivers! So was Enigma. Whatever attraction she felt towards you was all but a lie."
Varian opened his mouth to say something but couldn't. A lot of answers were suddenly given.
Who was Sia? Who was Enigma? How did they end up here? Why?
"Once I rip out the slivers from you, they'll understand what you really are, you are nothing!" Isadora expressed her contempt without any hiding. "Even now, you're hiding behind that girl because you can't afford to fight. How can you? A mere rank 3 canno—Huh?"
The last time Sia saw Varian, he was only a rank 2. Isadora knew Varian was a monster, his progress was impossible to figure out with common sense.
So, she made a bold bet and thought he reached rank 3 in just a month before he disappeared. It's already an overestimation because celestial ranks were much, much harder to progress than mere mortal levels!
Even though Sarah's abrupt advanceent surprised her, she seemed to have just gained that strength and still wasn't perfect.
Moreoever, with her combat experience, Isadora was confident of crushing the woman.
But…
Seven powerful peak rank 4 auras shot into the hall, like beams of light before converging into a single light beam of high rank 6.
An archaic red-bladed sword hummed in Varian's hand, his clothes—no, his armor with an emerald pattern on the heart area—shone and activated defense and the ring on his finger began to ripple out fluctuations of space and time.
"Correction. Rank 4, not rank 2. But it's enough to knock your rank 6 ass down." Varian jumped past Sarah and swung his sword. "Give me back my Sia!"
The ancient palace exploded.
