As Varian fell into the space crack and the war in the solar system slowed to a halt, the same situation was occurring in the Emperor Abyss.
The Fairies were able to conquer the Blood Province relying on the death strand. The Undead abyssals caused the fall of the formidable abyssal defense that otherwise would've withstood the Fairies' assault for years.
Even though they lost the whole province, the abyssals put up a good fight. A crazy fight that scared the victors.
By all logic, the fairies should stop. If they move forward, they're going to face enormous losses.
For every thousand abyssal deaths, there'd be at least seven hundred fairies dying. Even if they finish off the abyssal race, the weakened fairies would've no chance of surviving the Providence Trial.
This was one of the intentions behind the Province Trial.
'Don't fight your equals and weaken the overall strength of the Jai Empire. Fight only if you can destroy your enemies and still stand strong in the upcoming trial.'
It worked. Under the threat of extinction, no one was stupid enough to wage a war that was sure to incur significant losses.
Abyss Emperor thought Fairies, like any sane party, would back off. So, the abyssals, while still vigilant, looked forward to a period of peace.
And the Emperor himself began preparing to finish off the solar system business.
The first thing he did was to check the war report a week after Varian disappeared.
'I sent wyverns, Blood Heirs, and even the death strand! Forget an overwhelming victory, why is there no victory at all?' Abyss Emperor thought it was a prank.
But after several confirmations, he slumped in his chair and began to look into the report with a heavy heart.
The details wouldn't change the heaviness in his heart or so he thought.
But as he read about the ridiculous adventures of Varian, his jaw dropped open and he found himself staring at the text like a dumbstruck fool.
"Confine the wyverns on Pluto, safeguard the planetoids of Neptune, end the Blood Heirs single-handedly, slaughter the army in thirty damn planetoids and go stop the Undead that reached Sovereign state. And he almost killed the Undead if not for Sanguik assassinating him."
Just reading Varian's achievements out loud made Headon's scalp tingle.
"And even after being hit by the death strand, he killed Sanguik, the head of blood heirs and the most dazzling genius of the abyssals in a single shot." As he read the last line, the Emperor stood up with clenched fists.
The office room cooled down and a deathly silence took over.
The Abyss Emperor leaned into his chair and glanced at the ceiling with a tired gaze. "Sanguik, we really owe you a lot. Thank you, child. Thank you."
If not for the best genius' noble sacrifice, Varian wouldn't have been killed. If that guy remained alive, it's impossible for humanity to fall.
Haedon had a feeling that even if he went to the solar system to finish off the humans, as long as Varian escaped, then this debt wouldn't end.
Someday, somehow that human warrior will find him and his people and he'd unleash hell that'd make Faires look cute in comparison.
His tracks-record spoke for itself. A genocidal maniac that slaughtered ten cities and killed tens of millions, Varian had no regard for life and wouldn't have any qualms about exterminating their entire race if he had the chance.
"He died…he really died…" The Abyss Emperor muttered in relief.
Even though the Undead Sovereign was severely injured and went out of commission for months, he did what no abyss ruler in the solar system could.
He not only killed the wildcard named Varian, but he also removed the dangerous obstacle called Enigma as well as another female who gained light and time power.
While the abyssals did incur significant losses in the war, they could always recover.
And after learning about the situation in the solar system, Haedon decided a drastic move.
'I'll send a Sovereign and get done with it.'
Turning his large chair around, he glanced at the giant map on the wall back of his desk.
Haedon's eyes grew dull and his thoughts drifted off as he stared at the map blankly.
The Abyss Empire, as he and his people liked to call it, or the Abyss Province, as the world addressed it, had twenty provinces or sub-divisions.
Each Province had one Sovereign as its leader and a few lucky ones had two. There were a total of sixty Sovereigns in the Abyss Empire.
A huge figure for humans, equal to Fairies but negligible to the Zions.
There were times when Haedon just wanted to send one of the Sovereigns and get done with humanity.
But every time he contacted these Sovereigns, they reported about the battle they just had. It sobered Haedon.
Abyss Empire's borders were not peaceful for decades. Before they hired Fairies for the job, Zions picked some mercenary Sovereigns to harass their borders every week.
Hiring sixty Sovereigns wasn't a pocket change even for the Zions.
Of course, these mercenaries were only paid to attack, not wage a war. If that's the case, first, the cost would go up. Second, the abyssals would retaliate harder.
In short, the sixty abyssal Sovereigns always had to be on the border. As long as they stayed, the mercenaries would only harass them. But if they left and the mercenary found an opening, they'd hunt like rabid dogs and loot and slaughter the province.
These Sovereigns had to spend decades away from home and some of them left when their children were born and couldn't even come to see the birth of their grandchildren.
It begged the question: Why go to such lengths? These mercenaries were accomplishing nothing other than keeping these Sovereigns on the border every damn day.
What could the Zions gain from this?
They, no, only and only the Zion Emperor, gained peace of mind. He freaked out badly when he learned that eight Abysses disappeared along with their Sovereigns many decades ago.
He decided to keep the abyssals engaged to prevent them from pulling any other move, even if it cost him considerable money and the ire of other provinces that feared Zions doing the same to them.
Haedon took the case to the court of the Masar Duchy, the immediate superior of Abyss Province, and managed to get an order prohibiting Zions from interfering.
'You shall not hire mercenaries to disturb the Sovereigns of the Abyss Province. Cease all activities within a year.'
Even though Zions established a new Duchy, they're new and far weaker than the established Masar Duchy. In fact, before they sold their Matriarch, Zions were also a province of Masar Duchy.
Eventually, the Zions obeyed the order and reluctantly withdrew after a year.
But the abyssals couldn't even sigh in relief because one day after that withdrawal, the Zions brought Fairies to the border.
Right after Haedon started the case in the Duchy, Zion Emperor started grooming the Fairies.
As a result, the Sovereigns had to stay on the border and had to face worse enemies.
Compared to mercenaries that didn't risk their lives, Fairies did and they had the intent to invade the Abyssals.
The Sovereigns remained on the borders to date. Until now, Haedon didn't send them to the solar system to prevent bloodshed at home.
Once a Sovereign here leaves, the Fairies would attack and destroy the province. Rather than that, he opted to finish off humans without much loss at home and even in the eight abysses.
Unfortunately, he neither won in the solar system nor did he keep peace at home.
Blood Province was gone and other provinces could be next. Whatever he tried to prevent badly already happened.
Haedon finally resolved to send a Sovereign to the solar system.
Anyway, the Fairies would also take a break after the intense war and it'd give him a window of opportunity.
The problem here was that if someone teleported to a place as far as the solar system, the space gates would've to cool down.
So, even if he wanted to send them now, the gates were recently used. He'd have to wait a few months.
But he could still send weaker awakeners, like level 9s, and some precious materials.
'Now that Varian is gone, I will send some strategic treasures and finish off humans for good. They'll put up a fight. If they don't collapse, then I'll send a Sovereign once the gates cool down.' Haedon decided and entered the treasury to pick the items.
But before he could even glance at all racks, a panicking voice reached him.
"Emperor! Emperor! The Fairies attacked!"
