[Welcome! Welcome to the world of Mythra! Not a single participant has walked out of this place alive. May you be the first.]
The translucent bar was pierced by the glaring sunlight and Varian instinctively shielded his face.
"Hey! It's the Princess!"
"Princess is here!"
"Long live Her Highness!"
"Respects! My humble respects!"
It took a moment to realize he was standing in a crowd on the sides of a road, greeting a line up of royal foot soldiers, cavalry and a carriage in the middle.
Flower petals were thrown from the griffins in the air and a soothing fragrance filled the streets.
Perhaps out of safety concerns, the mages in the escort group cast a few wind spells.
Not a single petal touched the group as they marched onto the royal palace.
Varian was pushed back and forth by the frenzied people who were eager to catch a glimpse of the princess' carriage.
The yellow carriage, pulled by two fire breathing horses, had a thin blue curtain on either side.
One could catch a glimpse of a woman's silhouttee from the curtain, nothing more and nothing else.
The silhouttee felt familiar.
"I-Isado…" Varian clutched his head as a sharp pain rose on the back of his head.
The man standing behind glared at him. "Do you think you are qualified to utter the princess name without any respect? First time is warning. Second time is death."
"What?"
Varian's eyes widened and something clicked.
The sense of disorientation he had since opening his eyes decreased as he dug into his soul power to check for the story of this world.
[Eternal Empress]
An omnious foreboding rose in his mind at the world 'Eternal'. He quickly recalled the bottom of the holographic page.
[Survival Rate: 0]
"Hiss!" Varian instinctively rubbed the back of his head which was bleeding from the injury.
'Blood, huh?'
He frowned.
'Wait, why is the bleeding not stopping? And why did I even get hurt by a typcial celestial ranker?'
"Princess will save the world!"
"Seal the devil!"
"Justice wins!"
The crowd grew more and more agitated, their chants growing louder and passionate.
A translucent window appeared in front of the dazed Varian.
[The power system in this world is Rank 1 Celestial to Rank 9 Celestial and finally, Pseudo Divine. The average of the people here is rank 5 and median is rank 4.
Naturally, this world is strong enough to bear the attacks of a rank 9 and not get destroyed.]
'That's not it. Why am I weak?'
[Varian Konstant
Rank 3 (Sealed)]
'Huh? Why?'
[You were responsible for the chaos in Paradise. Instead of confronting your enemies, you even used this world as an escape mechanism. They were punished harshly. This is a light punishment. You can break the seal with enough effort.]
'Are you fucking kidding me? They came to kill. It's not my fault.]
[Weakness is the original sin.]
Varian shut his mouth and exhaled sharply.
The synergy link between him and Sia as well as Enigma was missing. He could sense that they were alive and safe. But they were not here.
The link with Isadora was significantly weaker than that with the two. And once he entered this world, that link was also suppressed.
[Isadora! Isadora!]
Varian pulled back from the crowd and walked to a deserted alley.
[Can you hear me? Isadora? Respond!]
As only silence reigned, he began to panic.
'Ugh…'
A familiar voice groaned into the channel, as if she was suffering from a headache.
'Varian?'
[Yes! Are you okay?]
'I know that name but who is it?'
[Wh-What? Stop joking, now is not the time.]
'Are you the devil trying to entice me?' Her voice suddenly grew harsh. 'Your evil will be stopped soon.'
Varian's breathing grew rough and he covered his face.
Even though she did sound like Isadora and was definitely Isadora since she had the Synergy link, she felt like a different person.
[As with penalty given to you, she is also given a penalty. Her memories of real world are suppressed and this world's are amplified.
But it is still her. The personality that comes from the soul cannot be changed by mere memories.
She'll revert to her normal self but only once the expedition begins.]
Varian slammed the wall and a fist mark cavity lodged itself in the tough structure. With dust and stone flying out, drop by drop, his blood dripped from his fist.
Once the expedition begins, she wouldn't be able to get out of that area. Even Isadora, with all her experience, might not be able to achieve success.
'No matter how strong you are, the devil cannot defeat the guardians of peace.'
Her courageous voice was a little shaken, as the princess must've been treating him as the world ending devil.
Even though she's going to sacrifice her life to re-seal the devil, the malovelent being she heard growing up did not become less scary.
It's like a little girl trying to fight a rabid dog to save her younger brother. It's something she must do. Even though she was willing to even sacrifice herself for it, her little heart wouldn't stop racing.
The fear was going nowhere. It's only the conviction to act despite it that was allowing the Princess to speak.
Since it had come to this, he'd have to change his approach.
[Little lady, why do you think I want to destroy the world?]
Varian's voice grew cold, indifferent and deep, befitting the title she gave him.
'Is this a joke? A devil who descended from the sky and sunk half of the world into seas. If not for everyone joining hands, you would have destroyed the rest of the world.'
[But it achieved nothing. You could only seal me. And even now, the three kingdoms of the land send a prince or princess each to seal me.]
'And it is me this time. I will let you rot there for another hundred years. The one who comes after me will do the same. Again and again. You are going to be in hell for eternity.'
A mad laughter sounded filled with sarcasm and malovelence.
'Ha….Hahahahahaha!'
