A palace greeted him under the broken tree.
Countless vines, each thick as a person intertwined to form the giant structure. The vines pulsed like they were the lungs of giant creatures, changing the color of the building from a holy silver to deadly red.
Even then, it looked beautiful, stunning even.
The road to the palace was paved with a sea of flowers. As he moved forward, the flowers swayed gently to the side, making way.
Varian stepped onto the road without making a sound.
The giant turtle on which the palace, roads and the estate was located shrank into its shell at their contact.
As powerful as it was, the rank 1 creature had no thought of resistance. It neither activated the defense arrays on its shell nor did it send a message to its lady.
Trees on both sides of the road were pristine, their crystalline branches swaying with the wind, gem-like leaves fluttering and glowing fruits emitting a tantalizing aroma.
The fruit was condensed with purest of vitality and aura.
Ingesting just a single fruit would push an ordinary man to into a rank 7.
There was no hardship to be endured, no millennia to be waited.
Everything in the universe did follow a cause and effect, however. Something didn't come out of nothing.
'Or did it?' Varian's musings grew more abstract with his power.
Was the universe created from something? If it was from nothing, did it have a creator?
If it came from nothing, then was it all there was?
Then what about God's Eye? It's a crack in the universe. If there's a crack, then it meant there was something outside.
So it didn't come from nothing after all?
Varian plucked a fruit, crushed it without any hesitation. The power of soul and vitality in the fruit dispersed, shimmering softly as it did.
There had to be a price for the power. The price for this fruit was paid for by a billion lives the roots of the tree sucked away.
The melting fruit smelled sweet. Inaudible to most people but clearly heard by him were the whispers of souls that long perished.
"Do I need to break the palace too?" Varian asked, face plain but tone solemn.
The main door of the palace flung open.
A gorgeous, volouptus elven beauty in golden robes faced him. The long green hair reached her feet, the silver eyes gleaming as she stared at him with a stern gaze.
All Mother Asherah.
"You shouldn't have come."
Her voice was like the song of birds, the sway of branches, the rustling of leaves.
"It is a terrible decision, Konstant Varian." When she spoke, it seemed like mother nature itself sang a lullaby.
Instead of the authority exuded by tyrants that forced obedience, she exuded charm. Charm mixed with gentleness.
Even the fiercest of men would submit themselves to her. It wasn't just lust, it was also a sense of safety she gave off, like a mother did to her infant child.
Varian felt her charm and hated her more for it.
He wanted to slaughter her right away. He owed Aurora a lot for what she did. And even if that debt didn't exist, he wouldn't let her be harmed.
And Primula...
Asherah didn't seem to care. With a raise of her eyebrow, she said. "And the defense against Mors?"
"I'll take care of it." Varian patted his chest. "Nexus will listen to me. I'll make them. Everything will be back under control. Trust me."
"Trust you?" Asherah covered her mouth, her eyes glowing with derision. "You of all people? Someone who disappears for a thousand years without notice when even the trash who went to God's Eye returned. The same you who didn't even show his face when the empire needed him the most. Trust you? Put the lives of all these people under your whims?"
Varian's fists clenched, his eyes narrowing. "There are reasons. Good reasons. Important reasons."
"And there is reality. Undeniable reality." Asherah laughed, a mocking laughter filled with disbelief. "If something comes up again, something with reasons, you'll vanish again, won't you?"
Varian remained silent.
"Get out of here. An irresponsible man like you...is not qualified to lecture me. The alliance is dead, so is your authority."
"Asherah, I don't want to kill you."
"Kill?" The All Mother looked at him with gleaming silver eyes. Her eyes were shining with madness. "Don't think highly of yourself. You're not sparing me. I'm sparing you. And only because of the goodwill Keman showed you.
I'll treat it as his last wish."
Varian sighed deeply.
She didn't even know he had the slivers. But again, he didn't seem to care about anything at this point.
"I didn't want to do this but..."
Varian's right eye glowed a dazzling white and his left eye went pitch black. A fearsome pressure descended on the region.
Seven divine paths were unleashed and instead of acting seperately, they were already working together, trying to behave like an Avenue.
It wasn't a perfect attempt. But it was better than what even most high rank 2s could try.
Asherah's eyebrows jumped at the display of that power.
Raw. Potent. Godly.
Space and Time emerged, locking the entire region, cutting off any possibility of escape and safeguarding the palace.
Order and Chaos built a formation, enveloping the region.
Varian didn't show any explosive emotion. He tilted his head, looking over her shoulder into the interior of the palace, straight at the pillars where a woman and girl were imprisoned.
Primula had signs of vitality loss. There were dried tear marks on her cheeks. But other than that, she was fine.
Aurora though...Aurora's divinity was fading, carried over from her to Asherah through a nearly invisible link.
Her realm had fallen to low rank 1.
Strapped to polished barks with vines, she was trapped in a cage.
The always energetic lady curled up weakly, trembling every moment, a pained groan leaving her lips as her energy continued to be sapped away.
"She was born for this. She returned to me when I needed her the most, when the alliance needed her the most. By giving up her own, she's going to save all these lives." Asherah smiled, pride leaking through her words. "I am proud of her. She will be a hero in the tales to come."
The power of Samsara emerged, slipping into the formation. The power of life and death filled the place and through cooperation through order and chaos, acted on the All Mother.
The smile on Asherah's face froze.
"Hero?" Varian took a step forward.
The world shook. Gently. Then violently.
"She only wanted to be a princess."