Divine Path System

"Elysium."

"Elysium, Elysium, Elys…"

The eyes of the envoys started to tear up.

The tear drops fell and as they did, they glowed as a subtle light passed through them.

Athena rubbed her eyes and turned to the source of that light.

"I-Is that…" The young lady pointed in confusion at the marks on one of the many grand gate to the entrance city of the kingdom.

"Yes. The judgement gates of the now extinct sea-farer tribe. If you manage to pass through them with your own strength, your soul will be tempered, regardless of your path." Varian said.

"B-But that is a great treasure! Only their capital city's elites were allowed to use it."

He nodded lightly. "The satellite galaxies had a lot of ruins. Their treasures are integrated into the kingdom. I'm calling it a kingdom but with the treasures it has, it might as well be a half-empire."

The envoys were dumbfounded. They were just looking for a way out. As long as humanity could survive, their purpose would be fulfilled and they were even ready to sacrifice their lives for it.

But what's in front of them wasn't just a refugee for survival, it's a marvelous creation befitting a ruling race.

This put them below the four ruling tribes. It was a precarious position. Status and resources not backed by strength only brought danger.

"Of course," Varian narrowed his eyes and beckoned at the empty space. "These treasures will cause you problems, so some counter measures are necessary."

A pair of wings materialized over the kingdom.

"Oob, fill out the gaps please."

"Of course!"

The power of Logos emerged behind Varian, forming a symbol of Yin-Yang. And then, the laws of Order and Chaos enveloped the kingdom.

Similar to the rules he encountered in Fabricator's Paradise, he set up certain 'rules' in the Kingdom.

Using Oob as a model, the Kingdom was given a 'Royal Will' which would act as the ultimate authority.

There could be elected rulers in the future but they would be under the watch of a neutral, all-encompassing Royal Will immune to coercion, manipulation and deception.

The creation of the Royal Will and its perfection took about as long as the creation of the kingdom itself.

Varian didn't mind. With another beckoning, Primula appeared next to him.

Even though he still treated her as a teenager, she seemed to be a twenty-year old woman already.

She lowered her head after glancing at his face, fists clenched at sides. Reflecting on her outburst, Primula realized that she shouldn't have said those words.

He was powerless as her mother died, perhaps the most powerless he ever felt in his life. If there's a way, he would've tried. Too bad, it's impossible.

And now, he's once again faced with an impossible challenge. How could he save someone whose very Origin was broken?

Yet, she spoke those harsh words to someone who's trying his best in a hopeless situation.

"I…I'm…sor—"

"I need your help." Varian interrupted.

He didn't fault her words. He's only worried she hadn't digested Eshala's death. Giving her some work would let her focus on something else and hopefully, lessen her pain.

At the mention of the word 'help', Primula raised her head, booming with anticipation. "Anything for you!"

The envoys were shocked at her response and immediately lowered their head.

The historical records spoke of the devil who single-handedly crushed the entire rebellion.

Crimson Thorn, Primula Konstant.

"Oversee the settlement of Hortians in the kingdom until they get started." Varian said.

"Of course, brother." Primula smiled sweetly at him and turned to the envoys. Her face turned icy cold and with a chilling expression, she said. "Since it's my beloved brother's creation, I will not allow any low life to step into the city. All the residents will be properly screened. Unworthy mongrels will be thrown into blackholes."

The envoys flinched, their bodies shivering from her chilling tone.

"Shall we go gather them now?" Primula seemed to ask for their opinion but they never had a choice anyway.

Gulping their saliva, the envoys nodded with pale faces. The stories they grew up listening to mentioned how terrible she was.

They used to think they were exaggerations. And now, they realized they downplayed the horror.

Just standing in her presence was causing their souls to crumble. Just how many did she kill to have such killing intent?

Stuck in the nine year cycle, Primula lived violently until she met Varian. Even though she no longer had to start over, the killing intent from all those cycles remained.

Those traces of massacres scared the envoys but they were too light for Varian for him to actively take note of them.

"We'll cover the Pala kingdom first." The youngest as well as the oldest member of the Konstant family spoke.

"Don't bother." Varian tapped at the void in front.

The space rippled and a white light shone from the tip of his finger. And then the ripple spread out at an unbelievable speed, covering the entire empire.

All the divine rankers in the alliance felt a great power hovering them. The Jai princes who were putting up a futile resistance against also paused at his aura.

Even in the capital city where the rank 2s of the alliance were gathered, the disturbance were felt.

They all turned to this direction and Varian smiled, as if daring them to stop him.

Interestingly, Asherah and Ophion withdrew their perceptions after a brief moment. Hades didn't even bother to check.

'The King of Undead is onto something critical.'

Wondering what he's really seeking, Varian tapped the void once again, causing a ripple of green.

With the power of space-time, he already enveloped the entire empire. With the power of life-death, he locked onto all hortians.

"Come home."

With a clench of his fist, a massive power erupted across the empire, the clean fabric of space-time got pierced with billions of holes.

A few moments later, billions upon billions of humans, elves, sanguines and other hortians appeared in front of the kingdom.

Some of them dying, many of them injured, all of them dumbfounded.

"I'll take care of them, brother. I know you're busy." Primula said and Oob flapped its wings. The huge population vanished to some other place where they would be properly screened.

"You too, come with me. Don't disturb him anymore." She turned to the envoys and said in a cold tone.

As she was about to take them away, a panicked but curious voice sounded. "G-Great Lord! Would the Royal Will be under risk of hacking? What if someone gains control over it? Or bypasses it?"

"Hey, don't you understand? His time is precious!" Primula scowled, her aura rising like a tide and pressing down on the lean man.

"B-But…"

Varian decided to leave. He couldn't afford to waste more time than he did.

'That boy is braver than he looks, hmmm?'

He turned around smoothly and scanned the envoys the pale thin man who was about to be politely taken away by Primula.

A lean black haired youth who's 80% human, 20% elf.

And a trace of the bloodline flowing inside him originated from…

'Kyle and Maya.'

Varian took a breath and checked the other two. There's no way this was a coincidence. The envoys were carefully selected.

He checked the remaining five and as expected, two were descendants of friends.

The delicate, green haired woman had the bloodline of Nial family. Even though Irene Nial herself left behind no descendants, she had distant relatives.

And the blonde man…

'Bali!'

He missed a lot of things during those twenty thousand years.

"Primula." Varian muttered.

Realizing what he wanted, she stopped.

With an amused expression, Varian said. "Hacking the royal will?"

The thin man nodded with a timid expression. "Y-Yes. Not by a rank 2, of course. That's obvious. We don't have anything they'll need. But by someone weaker."

The other envoys closed their eyes in pain, cursing him for posing such a stupid question.

By suggesting the creation could be dismantled by someone weaker, it seemed like he was questioning the creator's capability.

Primula pursed her lips, gaze locking onto this audacious little one.

The envoys expected Varian to be pissed off but he surprisingly gave it some thought.

"It's not impossible." He nodded to himself. "I modelled the region after the universe. The rules imposed are also modelled after the cosmic laws.

But after all, it is an imperfect world no matter how hard I try. As long as it is imperfect, it can be exploited. In fact, if they manage to find those flaws, even a non-divine ranker has a shot at hacking the Royal Will."

The envoys gasped, fear creeping up their faces.

"Don't worry." Varian smiled. "It is a possibility, not a plausibility. The hackers would need the help of at least six experts in the six paths to pull that off. And that's just the starting point. Finding the imperfection is no laughing matter even for a peak rank 1 divine."

"I-I see!" The thin man bowed deeply, a satisfied face for having solved his curiosity.

"L-Lord!" The green haired woman, Irene Nial's descendant, shouted softly.

"Hm?"

"Y-You possess the power to do so and yet, why are you not stopping the war outside?" She asked with teary eyes.

Primula glared down at the woman but Irene's descendant looked at Varian with an unflinching gaze.

"I can't." Varian exhaled. "I can't stop Hades…yet. I might be able to persuade Ophion but that would put all of Jai under the Undead."

The envoys looked at each other, unable to fully comprehend his words. Should they take it as an admission to the fact he would someday stop Hades? But how close was that someday?

Didn't divine rankers take millions of years to make any progress? Even though the myth of Varian himself was just a little over twenty thousand years old, could he really have the power to stop Hades one day?

'Var, we found something.'

Varian's brows suddenly frowned and he nodded to Primula. "Take care."

As he began to vanish, he turned to the envoys and bid his farewell.

"Don't let me down. Don't let humanity down. The future is in your hands."