"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.
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."