"I…Thank you for saving my life."
After he woke up on the way back to the abyss, Ron hurriedly finished the necessary protocols and found Var to express his gratitude.
Var simply waved his hand, as if it wasn't a big deal.
Ron didn't think so. "I was about to cure my sister. If I died here…I couldn't even imagine how much I'd have regretted dying."
Looking at the abyssal who was gritting his teeth as if he was enduring great pain, Varian sighed lightly.
'I didn't save you because I wanted to. If you die, the herb will be lost.'
Varian had a reason behind his actions. If not, he'd have been happy to let a genius level 8 abyssal die.
'Probably.'
No matter what kind of person Ron personally was, Varian knew that abyssals were hell-bent on going against humans.
Heck, even the thought of peace or working together never seemed to cross their minds.
'Too much blood has already been spilled.'
Shaking his head inwardly, Varian stared at the abyssal who was still thanking him.
He refused all gifts and stuff like that, so Ron just said.
"Then let's have a drink."
Varian gave a light nod.
That much was fine. If Ron got drunk, he might get him to spill some information.
The spaceship reached abyss and entered their capital after a few more minutes.
As the teams gathered in the meeting hall, Varian immediately sensed something was off.
Under Ron's team, there should be around seven teams and thirty members.
But only fifteen were seen now.
What about the remaining fifteen?
'Could it be…' Varian recalled Ron's ambush and his eyes narrowed.
His suspicions were only confirmed after archduke Mendis entered the hall and stepped on the stage.
With a grim expression on his face, he addressed the ten abyssals.
"Humans managed to pull a nasty ambush."
His words crushed the last hope some were holding.
"Fifteen of our princes were taken down."
Ron lowered his head at Mendis' words. To be honest, he got the emergency calls from the teams when they were ambushed.
But he was struggling to not get fatally injured and survive under the attacks of Judie and that space awakener.
He couldn't help them.
So…
"It's really regrettable. But what's more regretful is that none of the martyred managed to kill even one of the human princes responsible for the ambush."
"?"
"!"
Doubts and surprises emerged on the faces of the abyssals.
"Three humans." Mendis raised his fingers and said in a heavy tone. "Just three are responsible for the death of these fifteen."
"The best Xander geniuses. Monsters in a true sense." Mendis snapped his fingers and the silhouttes of three figures flashed on a hologram.
A woman with purple hair and a cold expression. The abyssal corpses around her were sliced apart like they were cut by sharp blades.
"Ranked 6th on the hunting list. Space Witch. Kai Xander."
A young man with a sword drenched in green blood. He was standing on top of a mountain of corpses.
"Ranked 4th on the hunting list. Sword Prince. Axel Xander."
And finally…
A tall man with a bulky build and a menacing expression.
Behind him was a broken human military base. In front of him were hundreds of abyssals.
Yet, the faces of all the abyssals were filled with fear.
"Ranked 1st on the hunting list. Monster Prince. Joshua Xander."
Joshua Xander…
The man from the family that was responsible for Sia's plight.
The family that was full of arrogant trashes.
But his actions made an impression on Varian.
Joshua could've pressured the mayor. He could've simply scoffed off the whole thing.
Even if he was a nice person, he could've simply chided his 'brothers' for doing the wrong thing and apologized to the mayor for 'inconvinience.'
He didn't do that. He not only beat them up brutally to teach them a lesson, he also forced them to apologize to the maid.
Going even further, he promised to hold the brothers accountable if anything happened to the maid, blocking any of the revenge they could've carried out.
Thinking of that person who he'd soon be hunting, Varian's expression grew heavy.
"We are dealt a heavy and unexpected blow. But we shouldn't back down now. We must establish dominance over human level 7s and redraw the space boundaries." Mendis' gaze stopped on Prince Var.
His heavy expression lightened up and he said. "While this ambush is a terrible news, there is also a piece of good news."
The abyssal princes and princesses raised their head with a bit of hope.
"Prince Var killed Austin and Declan, ranking 13th and 9th on the list. When he was ambushed, not only did he counter kill them, he also guessed their ploy and informed Ron."
Ron stepped forward and nodded. "If not for him, I'd not be standing here."
All the eyes gathered on the silent abyssal.
Their expressions were filled with worship and goodwill.
'It'll be replaced with hatred soon…' Varian sighed inwardly.
The meeting came to an end and they were told to rest a day before resuming the hunt.
Death wouldn't stop abyssals.
*** *** ***
"…and that's how I killed them bitches." Ron slammed the jug on the table with a grin.
Varian looked at the drunk Ron and clicked his tongue.
After the meeting, Ron invited him to his house and after a light meal, they ended up drinking.
It was strong enough to get Varian drunk with a few glasses. But Varian had no intention of getting drunk. He simply used his space powers and seperated the alchohol from his body.
Though, on the surface, he acted drunk.
[I…I want to reach level 8 soon.] His bracelet let out a neutral voice, converting his thoughts into words.
"Eh? I thought you disliked using that thing to speak." Ron was surprised.
[I-I was bullied for it. So, I don't use it.] The mechanical voice was monotonous despite what it was saying.
"Sorry for asking." Ron gave an apologetic smile before filling his cup. "Fuck your bullies. Look at you today, a genius among geniuses! You can reach level 8 soon if you…"
Ron's smile froze as he stopped the words. "…get galini."
Right. Prince Var could reach level 8 faster and with less risk if he got the galini
herb.
But…
Ron looked at a particular room and his keen senses listened to the weak breathing.
"Oh yeah, the war will be finished soon. Do your best, okay?" Ron changed the topic.
But the new topic only made him feel worse.
War…without enough strength, Prince Var might die.
By not giving him the herb, Ron might be responsible for Var's death.
Ron wished war pushed back until next year so that Var could also get the herb, but...
War's coming.
[Soon? Why?]
"Because of Varian!" Ron rolled his eyes, trying to hide his increasing guilt. "Do you think anyone is stupid enough to ignore a guy who reaches level 7 in three months?"
'Fuck you, Julius. Whose side are you on, really?' Varian wanted to slap him dead.
Out of spite, Julius revealed his identity as dreamer, fine. But why the fuck did he reveal his level and how fast he got there?
Was he nuts?
'Is he scheming something…but he's not one of the suspects for the traitor.'
While Julius' actions might seem petty and senseless, Varian feared they held a deeper motive.
No matter how angry the man was, as a Soveriegn, he should know the consequences of doing what he did.
So, why…
"If not for those fairy bitches suddenly attacking, our emperor would've already done something. Seriously, once we get the legacy, fairies are nothing." Ron said with an arrogant expression, his words filled with pride.
'Fairies, huh. So, that's why abyss emperor didn't come to solar system.' Varian understood the gist of their situation.
The abyssal homebase was somewhere else, probably far away or else, abyss emperor could come for a walk, destroy humans and leave.
'He never appeared despite being a celestial ranker. So, his enemy is also a celestial ranker.'
Varian felt a headache thinking about the true strength of abyss race. They were fighting with a civilization having a celestial ranker and had enough leeway to send eight fucking abysess!
Ron studied Varian's expression that screamed. 'The situation is more serious.'
Shaking his head, he chuckled. "I know, I know, but even with legacy, it'll take a few decades to catch up with zions, but hey, we are safe until the providence trial, so…"
'…I'm glad I drank with him and got information.' Varian tried to think positively.
But he failed the very next second.
'Ok, what the fuck? After getting legacy…deva legacy, you need a few decades to catch up with Zions? Who's that? And why are you safe until providence trial?'
He couldn't ask Ron these questions that every abyssal was supposed to know.
On second thought, if Ron asked him any of such questions, he'd be fucked.
"Oh yeah, who's your favorite general?" Ron asked as he hiccuped. "I mean, back at home."
'…how would I know?' was what he wanted to say, but thankfully didn't.
"Hm? Come on. There gotta be someone."
[What about you?]
Varian decided to say he also liked the same general.
"Me? My clan head. Unlike here, they're well off there." Ron smiled with pride. "The current war that's going on with fairies, my clan head is the general there. So, you know who."
"…." Varian wanted to punch him in the face.
"So, who's your favorite? Don't be shy."
[Your Cla—]
"And don't tell it's my clan head. It doesn't count. Say some other name."
[….]
"What happened?"
Varian's mind worked exta hard as he tried to think a way out of the situation.
[S-Sister…]
"Huh?" Ron's body suddenly stiffened.
[Can I see your sister?]
The drunkeness from Ron's face receeded and a serious expression formed on his face.
He scrutinized Prince Var's curious expression and only after confirming there was no malice, he nodded.
'Phew, changed the topic.'
Varian stood up and followed Ron to a small bedroom.
A little abyssal, with pale grey skin and black hair was sleeping on a large bed. Her expression was peaceful and her breathing was weak.
In a simple yet cute blue dress, she looked like a doll.
Since she was so small and frail, her physique was roughly similar to a human child.
"Rui is a bright girl," With a gentle smile on his face, Ron adjusted her hair.
"…" Varian watched on silently.
Just from his caring gaze, it was evident how much Ron treasured his sister.
"Even though I was the big brother, she threw herself in front of me when that bastard Judie attacked." Ron's voice grew lower and his shoulders sank.
"If not for my uncle sacrificing himself, that attack would've killed her. But even though he stopped the physical attack, the mental attack was already done." Ron's eyes met Varian's.
Seeing the emotions in his eyes, Varian felt troubled.
"…She's been sleeping since ten years." Ron's voice was gentle, it had been gentle since they entered the room.
Perhaps because he didn't want his sister to hear unpleasant sounds or maybe he's just treating her like a sleeping child who would wake up if he talked too loudly.
"She'll wake up in a few days." Ron said with a bright expression before it fell. "But war will begin soon. Pity I won't be able to spend much time with her."
Varian lowered his head as he clenched his fists tightly.
He could empathize with Ron's grief for his sister. He totally could.
But if war begins, then there would be hundreds of millions of people like Ron.
To Ron, the war was something that'd seperate him from his sister temporarily. If he died, the seperation would be permenant.
That was the end of his vision.
But Varian's vision stretched far beyond that.
From mercury to uranus, and to every last space city.
He viewed the human race as a whole against the war.
'How many people would die? Even the one hour war was so terrible, but if an all out war, what should I do? Dammit!'
If Ron's story was a tragedy, then there would be hundreds of millions of tragedies.
'And if abyssals are fighting despite knowing our strength, then they must be confident of winning.'
Fifty billion lives were at stake.
Varian's heart nearly stopped beating for a moment.
[I need to go.]
Saying so, Varian didn't wait for Ron's response. He turned around and left without looking back.
It was an extremely rude behavior. But Varian wasn't in the mood to even consider things like that.
"V-Var!"
Ron called out in confusion, but Prince Var was already gone.
"Haaa…" Ron sighed deeply and looked at the sleeping face of his sister.
It was a peaceful face that didn't know the cruelty of this world.
"Rui, he's definitely mad at me. The war is coming up and I refuse to give him the herb which could potentially save his life."
Ron held her hand and thought back to Var's achievements.
Such an abyssal, if he survived, he'd really make a difference.
Var was even more talented than him.
Should he let someone like that die?
Should he let a genius who might potentially be of great help to the abyss race against fairies and even zions just because of his personal feelings?
A deep sigh escaped his lips and a bitter smile formed on Ron's face.
"So be it."
