Varian thought he calculated the duke's response. He was wrong. This man was neither strong nor courageous. He was just a lot more cunning than he thought.
When the blurred world cleared, what greeted him was not the scared figure of a cornered duke but the sadistic smile of a conspirator.
"I'm dead but so are you."
Varian couldn't understand the man's words but something exploded in the distance before a shockwave swept them away.
Under his incredulous eyes, Jataur disintegrated into pieces with a vengeful smile.
'This is a dangerous place…'
It was dark all around, like a black canvas. There wasn't the sparkle of stars in the far distance. Isadora felt comfortable in the surroundings but Varian only had unease.
"Where are we exactly?" He frowned.
"A nasty, nasty place."
Isadora's answer didn't end before a bunch of powerful auras locked onto them.
Dozens of red orbs lit up in the darkness and stared at them with killing intent.
*** *** ***
The reports of foreign attack quickly reached the court of Veyans. It didn't take long before it got passed onto the Empire's higher ups.
And then, all hell broke loose.
If the first round of attacks were considered a grave provocation, this second set of attacks—blatant attack of a duchy which was under the protection of a kingdom was naked spitting on their faces.
If even this was tolerated, then they might as well give up their Empire.
As the administrative wing of the empire, the Naraka Faction had to respond to this provocation with the right measure or risk appearing weak not just to the enemies outside but also to the competitors within.
"Pala Kingdom?" The 7th Prince, head of the Naraka Faction, leaned back with a snort.
The chair he was seated in was silvery white—built of crystallized flames borne out of stars in deep spaces.
"Yes, Your Highness. We had enemies attack our territory but they were rank 9s and came in sizable numbers. But these…these aren't even worth a second look. It sets an ugly precedent and lowers our reputation."
The officer replied, his rank 8 strength barely able to protect him from shivering in the face of the prince's tremendous aura.
"We've always taken war to their turf," Samael said with a cold smile. "Not a single war spilled on Andromeda in the last thousand years. The best they could achieve was a satellite galaxy."
The officer knew what the prince meant.
Even though Zions were also in a satellite galaxy, they were really in the border area. If an attack on Zions was possible, a strike on Andromeda would be entirely feasible.
"Send notice, prepare the special units and teach them a lesson." With a few words, the Prince decided the fate of billions.
A silhouttee covered in a black robe replied in a chilling voice. "As you command, Your Highness."
It wasn't an immediate mission but not something that'd take long.
Soon, Palarians would pay the price for their arrogance.
*** *** ***
A piece of news started spreading.
'The slivers have returned. And they are both under a single man.'
It was from the Snake of Chaos. Even though it still remained in a deep slumber. A sliver of it was up and witnessed everything. If it was fully or even partially awake, things would've ended very differently.
Other than divine rankers, only rank 9s were privy about it. But few elite circles learned about it despite not being as powerful.
And one of them was a man who was seen as the future of both the Genesis and Mors Empires.
His palace was one of its kind.
One half of it was constructed by vibrant plants and flowers. The other half was built through skulls, bones and animal skin.
The building itself was seggregated into two, one for the living and other for the dead.
He sat on a luxurious throne in the center of the palace and listened to the information without any agitation.
He was shrouded in a red and green aura, covering up his appearance completely.
Neither the living seated on the right and the Undead on the left could percieve his emotions.
Even after listening to the messages brought by informants on both sides, he remained silent for a while, as if it was just a normal thing.
"Lord! You have to act!"
"This is too important!"
He tilted his head slowly in response to the words and chuckled. "Because it's so important, it'll face me eventually."
The court fell silent. There was a great deal of truth to his seemingly passive words.
Searching for the slivers was extremely difficult, even more so given that they were spotted in the Nexus Empire.
But if the sliver owner did survive and most of them were certain he would, then he would inevitably come into conflict with their lord. There's just no other way around it.
*** *** *** ***
While he remained calm about the affair, the Nexus Empire couldn't sit still. They mobilized a lot of resources and began a detailed search throughout their territory, which was too big for their own good.
The investigation, as expected, yielded no results.
"I told you so," An old man gently moved his finger. "If the sliver holder was so useless to get caught, he wouldn't be a sliver holder."
On a setting of black and white lines stretching for light years that resembled a chess board, a compressed star moved from one square to another.
"It's worth trying." The silhouette covered in a white light in front of him said and flicked his finger. "Slivers are too important to pass up."
A black hole buzzed and moved to an adjacent square.
"Do you really think they can help us win against that man?" The old voice asked. "He never had to use his full strength to counterbalance all of us. If the slivers are acquired, they might prompt him to give up his position and attack with his real body."
An uncomfortable silence followed before the silhouttee replied.
"If only we didn't waste the last bit of our sliver powers in your stupid God Creation Plan, we could've used them to track down the slivers. Did you foresee this?"
"…" The old voice paused for a moment before saying. "The plan isn't stupid nor was it wasted. The God Creation Plan is still on."
"After that hybrid died five hundred years ago?"
"She is alive and dare I say, with the sliver holder."
"What?"
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