The ghostship rushed into Despair Abyss.
The interconnected root network made it the hardest abyss to invade. In the past, Varian fought the Undead here. And it's also here that he was thrown into the space crack and faced death. Even though he grew stronger, it was a horrifying experience.
Even more than Hortus itself, the journey there in that broken space tunnel was the stuff of nightmares.
Despite reaching the strength of a Sovereign, Varian wasn't sure if he could enter that tunnel and survive again.
Even for Sovereigns, the universe was far too hostile and dangerous. Especially things like space cracks. He might still survive but he'd end up in a land of nowhere with no path of return.
The one mainly responsible for pushing him to an almost certain death was killed. But the one who facilitated that wasn't dead yet.
"I've come to collect the debt you owe me." Varian's voice thundered above the Despair Abyss.
The endless forest suddenly went still before miles and miles of vines shot up at him. They spilled poison, acid, and more, trying to end him as soon as they could.
Varian didn't pull any punches. He clenched his fist and punched down. His figure blurred and he crashed into the ground like a meteorite.
Despair abyss went still before a huge earthquake shook it.
A huge crack appeared in the ground as the tectonic plates broke apart. The single supercontinent of Despair Abyss—the size of Earth's landmass—had a huge crack in the middle. If there were four more such cracks, the continent would split into two.
On the site of the crash, smoke and dust filled everything. Even the clouds were swept away by them.
All the plants, trees, and even grass in the surrounding five hundred miles were torn apart due to the sheer shockwaves that hit them.
And in the surrounding thousand miles, the ground cracked and destroyed forests.
And then suddenly, huge roots shot up from deep inside the ground and reached for Varian at breakneck speed.
At the same time, a giant tree appeared in the sky and whipped its branches at him.
Varian could take one attack and remain relatively unharmed. But if he took two, he'd be getting some nasty injuries.
"You arrogant bastard! My abyss is the graveyard of invaders!" Despair Queen roared.
Varian teleported behind her and drilled lightning bolts into her vines, electrocuting and destroying them. Then came the ice which froze the thorns she shot at him like bullets.
Finally, Varian created two swords combining his powers and slashed the giant tree.
Despair Queen began to retreat the moment the swords appeared. But it didn't help.
The Abyss' Will wasn't able to distract Varian. He dodged its attacks and simply focused on her and her alone.
Before she knew it, Despair Queen transformed back to her abyssal form. And light filled the sky. Then, she crashed into her own castle and slammed into a sturdy wall.
That man's silhouette reached her in a blink and she was screaming in despair as Varian's sword lodged into her heart and twisted, sending searing pain across her body.
The Abyss' Will was too weak to matter at this point.
Varian pushed the sword down further and blood splashed on his face as the weapon pierced through her heart and exited from her back.
The female abyssal breathed her last after a few minutes.
But she wished she died sooner. Because in those few minutes, she watched Varian wreck her entire abyss.
The great forest was burnt, broken, and destroyed. Her greatest pride, the impeccable defense was useless in front of Varian's prowess.
The screams of the abyssals as they transformed back into their humanoid forms and ran everywhere and nowhere rang in her ears like a curse.
Varian was more merciless than she expected. He spared no one. Not even the weakest or the most helpless.
The last thing she saw before her consciousness went blank was his indifferent eyes.
Despair Abyss' altar was already destroyed. So, Varian went straight for Hollow Abyss.
With Thunder and Despair Abyss decimated, Neptune and Uranus were freed forever.
If the abyssal sovereigns banded together, Varian wasn't sure if he could kill them all. But since they're all in their own abyss, he wasn't going to miss this golden chance.
'Only six more.' The peace he always dreamed of was in reach. 'Soon. Very soon.'
But the consumption was too high even for him. So, Varian had to rest a full hour before he entered the Hollow Abyss.
After exactly thirty minutes, the arch nemesis of Saturn was destroyed.
Hollow Queen was a tricky opponent to beat since she kept teleporting but with some ambush from Sarah and Sia, he got that one critical shot on her which eventually led to her death.
"Huh?" Varian did a double take and searched the secret floor under the castle.
There was no altar.
"Don't tell me…" His expression grew grave and a thought he didn't like flashed in his mind.
The altars connected these eight abysses and the abyssal homeland spatially. It's also how the abyssals must've suddenly gotten the resources to gain the edge in this war.
If Hollow Queen hid it, then…
"He might be coming." Varian clenched his fist and his back straightened. His heart thumped as the weight of a Celestial enemy threatened to crush him.
"Abyss Emperor?" Sia asked after killing a bunch of level 9s that managed to survive until now.
Varian nodded as his expression grew grave. "We have to destroy the remaining altars. As many as possible. No, even leaving one is too dangerous."
For this matter, Varian also gave up the choice of rest and decided to continuously attack the abysses.
The ghostship was about to head to the next abyss when the solar system suddenly went dark.
Panic filled the masses and Boo tried to find the source of the problem from the drones. To Boo's horror, nothing was working. It was as if someone turned the switch off not only for the suns but also for the entire electric structures of the solar system.
And then a tremendous aura flooded everything everywhere.
Then something or someone lit up. The dark solar system was filled with a dazzling light so brilliant that it overshadowed even the two suns.
The expanding light soon stopped and converged back onto a figure.
It was Julius.