The 7th Prince got a small break.
He didn't need to fight against enemies rivaling his power for a short while and decided to take a short break.
His clones were needed in various locations. Not that he could use them indefinitely.
Divine ranker he was, his power remained finite.
Every enemy fought and managed by his clone was a formidable powerhouse by themselves.
Any weakening of the clone could set in motion a chain reaction that would set back the grand mission, even if just by a bit.
Thankfully, while the clones remained with their never ending job, he didn't have to.
So, he returned to his private planet.
A planet protected by the toughest of defenses he could create.
Even a new divine ranker could not break past the invisible defenses that warp this tiny place.
It was on a distant planet away from the center of the Andromeda galaxy. It's a place at the border of kingdoms and used to be ruled by an independent government.
Long ago, there was a man from the 2nd Prince faction, his position equivalent to that of Zahara Onyx and Hector Russ.
Compared to the 4th Princess and the 7th Prince, the 2nd Prince was naturally older. So were the subordinates under him.
The man was talented and resourceful, managing to reach the divine rank in an impressive time.
That was the time when the subordinates under the 3rd princess and 5th prince—who lead the other two factions of the Empire back then—were still only peak of rank 9.
It was the period when the 7th Prince hadn't begun to lead the Narak faction of the Empire and only recently got into the prime ranking.
Drunk on power, the subordinate of the 2nd Prince breached into the boundary drawn by the 7th Prince.
The red lines clearly indicated that no one should come within a light year radius of the planet.
The man did.
'Look, I know this place is considered important by the 7th Prince. But even if I cross it, there's not much he can do.'
What happened next was a tale of epic tragedy.
The man, his family, friends, relatives, planet, civilization and the entire kingdom he was from where slaughtered.
The lives lost that day exceeded a few hundred trillion.
Jai Empire wasn't a land of peace. It ran the so-called Providence Trial which was essentially an official protection to not get genocided by powerful groups.
Everyone living here, man or woman, young or old, was accustomed to violence.
And yet, the brutality of the Prince shattered these hardened hearts. Children stopped crying, men stopped laughing and women stopped speaking at his mere mention.
The 7th Prince was apparently punished by the Emperor. Or so they say. But he shortly became the head of Naraka faction there after. People who lived through those times wonder if he's actually rewarded for his behavior than punished.
It had been a long time since that incident, but no one, not a single soul, not even the rank 2s of the Empire tried to set foot in that location.
To such a forbidden region, Samael Astreas returned.
The planet, despite absence of any lifeform was well maintained, remaining in a pristine condition.
But it wasn't grand enough for his status. There were no divine stones or trees or beasts on the planet.
The place's space wasn't reinforced enough to withstand the blows of even a peak rank 9. Nor was there abundant aura as one would expect from the place of a divine ranker.
It was just a planet for the upper-middle class of the Empire. Nothing more. Nothing less.
And it's style–roads, buildings and gardens—were all a thing of a distant past, a past from which the Empire had long moved on from.
But it remained perfectly preserved in this place.
As if the planet had remained in that state.
"I'm back." The Prince muttered, his voice, ever so cold and indifferent, slowly melting.
Without any more words, he sealed his powers and closed his eyes.
And his day began.
The pink starlight seeping into the room through the windows and then the curtains caused his eyebrows to furrow.
With a frown, he snorted and hugged tighter.
"-ke up! Wake up~"
A familiar, gentle voice tickled his ears. The scent that soothed his soul reached his nose and her presence announced itself in his arms.
"Lia…"
The Prince smiled like a child and hugged tighter.
"If you don't let me cook, Skyla will be hungry."
She tried to persuade in a gentle tone but Samael was having none of that.
"That little pig can starve a day for all I care. Just lie down with me." Samael said in a firm tone and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tighter and tighter hug.
"Really now, why are you being like this?" Lia patted him on the back and sighed in confusion and helplessness.
"Usually, you just leave in the middle of the night for some mission. You don't even bother to inform me. And you're being like this now. Samael…"
In that voice, there was a trace of worry, a hint of complain and a bit of sadness. "Are you fine? Is everything okay?"
Samael nodded without opening his eyes, his arm slowly reaching for her cheek and tracing her face gently, like she was the most delicate thing to exist.
He cupped her cheek and rested his head on her shoulder.
"I'm fine. Everything is fine. Really."
Seconds turned into minutes and the minutes accumulated into an hour.
But Samael didn't move.
Like a baby safely resting in the womb, away from all the troubles of the world, he rested.
Lia gave up trying to wake him up and held him with care.
A familiar voice broke the peace.
"Bad Bad Big Bro! I am hungry! Hungry hungry hungry!"
Even from across the hallway, that voice was loud enough.
Samael sighed and slowly opened his eyes.
Lying next to him was his wife who died a long, long time ago.
