1106 Ritual Of Hortus



"P-Please spare me!" A rank 1 drug dealer, who used to overlook tens of thousands of lives and kill as he pleased prostrated on the ground and begged for mercy.

"Spare us, oh great lord!"

"Mercy! Have Mercy!"

"…"

Varian looked at the fifteen-odd rank 1s in front of him and clicked his tongue.

There were originally over thirty in the dark side of Ubiq. But Varian ended up killing half of them since the patrolling powerhouses were nearby. The rest, he managed to capture.

He thought over what he should do with them. Kill? Sure, that's the default option.

But could he do anything else?

Enslaving them wasn't really an option since he's just a Rank 1 Spirit.

"Whatever happens, don't expect a good ending." Varian scowled at the bastards who made the lives of Ubiq hell and waved his hand.

A few tonnes of a tough red alloy floated out from his storage. Hortus' Will descended in the form of a light pillar and enveloped the alloy the size of a small mountain.

It twisted and expanded despite its toughness, like kneaded dough. After a few minutes, the red alloy turned into a huge prison.

"Enjoy your time." Varian threw them all into the Prison they had no chance of breaking.

But as a layer of insurance, he threw that prison into the Forbidden Area of Order and Chaos.

He set the 'Order' of the place to be staying inside the prison. Even if they break the prison, coming out of it would be difficult. If they accomplished even that, then they'd have to face the 'Chaos'.

Order restricted them to staying in one place, but Chaos would push them to move everywhere and keep moving without rest.

"What should I do with them?"

In the chilling room of Spring Palace, built adjacent to a beautiful forest, pristine lake, and snowy mountains.

The breeze was sometimes cool, sometimes warm but always carried a scent of flowers.

He should bring his wives and have some fun here. They could restrict their powers and climb the mountain. Sia would like that. Sarah would just ask him to watch the lake.

Unknown to his own senses, Varian's mood relaxed.

"Take care of the flowers here, increase the cover of blue and pink ones. Get the elves to take care of it. Release some beautiful animals into the mountains, the crystalloids should handle this.

And the lake, make it more beautiful, more dreamy. Ask the Mermaids to do the job. Go only above the expectations, not below."

"Y-Yes." The attending maid, Matriarch Helena, nodded in confusion.

It was shocking enough that he brought sixteen rank 1 celestials! But more shocking was his care in these things.

Even after spending some time with the people directly working under him, Helena couldn't understand the man who commanded her and her world.

For someone who led her whole life seeking power, Varian's actions were incomprehensible.

But his growing strength and expanding power motivated her more than anything else.

If he grew strong enough, maybe she too could reach a higher state than any of her predecessors.

Rank 1? Rank 2? Maybe even higher. Because this man surpassed her lifetime's hard work in a single year. Even calling him a monster among monsters would do injustice to his achievements.

Taking a deep breath, Matriarch, no, Maid Helena asked with a humble but pleasing smile. "You seem to be thinking about what to do with those captives. Shall I convene a meeting with the best think tanks of the Empire, Your Majesty?"

Varian raised a brow and asked. "Do I look worried?"

"No."

"Then?"

"The tasks you assigned are just the ideas you got after visiting this place. You came here for something else. You aren't the type of person to sit still in the middle of an adventure far away from home. Something is bothering you. I can only think of the captives."

"No need to call them," Varian looked at her with a new understanding. "You are more useful than you look."

Helena bowed lightly. "I was once a ruler, so I can roughly know what's going on in your mind."

Her words intrigued Varian. Speaking of, it'd been a while since he saw her. Compared to her strong image as the Matriarch and Supreme Ruler, her current self in a maid uniform was alienating.

"Aren't you dissatisfied with your situation?" Varian couldn't help but ask.

Helena shook her head and softly chuckled. "I was the ruler of a pond, your Majesty. Now, I don't rule the pond anymore. But I directly serve the one who rules the Ocean. Why would I be dissatisfied?"

"Isn't there a saying? Better to be chicken's head than phoenix's tail or something."

"Better to cry in Heaven than laugh in hell, that's a saying we have in Hortus. I guess there's a saying for everything." Helena said with a genuine skeptic gaze.

"Ah. Well." Varian agreed with her. Every goddamn thing had a saying supporting it.

Helena continued to speak. "Killing them is the easiest but most useless. If you could've enslaved them, you'd have already done it. So, you're trying to figure out another solution."

"That's right."

"Then the answer is in front of you, Your Majesty." Helena pointed to the sky.

"The sky? World's Will?"

"The scriptures mention sacrifices to be bestowed with power." Helena pursed her lips. "The ritual was lost during the wars. But it's not a fabrication."

"Sacrifices…" Varian's eyes lit up and he communicated with the World Will.

Compared to Oob who was clever and functional, Hortus' World Will was incredibly rigid and mechanical. It had no self-consciousness so to speak.

"It seems possible. But the efficiency of conversion is 90% and…" Varian's expression grew strong.

"And?" Helena's curiosity was brimming.

"Once they benefit from this ritual, they cannot ever become a Divine ranker and are closely connected to the World's Will. If Hortus is at risk of collapsing, it'll draw power from them and might even draw their lives."

"…" Helena looked at him in confusion. What did Divine Ranker even mean?

Varian shrugged. He's just a rank 1 celestial ranker, okay? What would he know about divine rankers?

"Shall I contact the Chief of Staff for the selection of the members?" Helena asked.

"Yes. Prefer the veterans who risked their lives and almost died. Reaching Celestial ranks will prolong their lives." Varian patted the soft spongy chair and stood up.

"Will be done. Then, may I inform others of your arrival?"

"No, keep it a secret from the Queens and the Sovereigns," saying it took a lot of strength.

Even though he's over a hundred times stronger compared to himself at peak level 9, Hortus still saw him as a baby that just began to crawl.

The time dilation of Hortus was dependent on his strength. For now, it's almost 10x for non-celestials and ~2X for celestials weaker than him. But for himself, it'd be barely 1.1X.

He wanted to grow stronger before a reunion, at least rank 2. But the main reason was that he was afraid he'd stay behind for a while longer after seeing the familiar faces.

Silly as it sounded after all he'd gone through, Varian felt homesick.

"Gather them in three hours."

"But they won't come just by my word alone…"

"Inform the Imperial Secretary. Ask her not to reveal news of my arrival."