1555 Crazy
Varian stumbled out of bed clutching his head. The bed sheets were torn while clothes and underwear were ripped to shreds. A familiar smell lingered in the air and a sense of deja vu overtook him.
'Wait, wait, wait…'
He returned to Hortus, he fainted from the injuries and he woke up feeling refreshed and stronger than ever.
So, what's happening now? Or was the previous awakening an illusion?
He put on a pair of shorts and walked out of the palace bedroom, straight into the balcony. The balcony was extraordinarily large, easily capable of holding a few spaceships.
A beautiful garden entered his sight, stretching thousands of acres. While it's technically a garden, it might as well be a forest.
A sweet fragrance hit his nose from the sea of flowers grown near the palace, bringing back memories
The three, no, four ladies all laid down on a beach chair in bikinis, wearing fancy sunglasses and browsing their topics of interests on the floating digital screens.
Well, there was basically no staff in the entire palace except for the two maids. And they wouldn't dare to extend their senses.
So, Varian was the only one who could enjoy the heavenly sight. And he did so without even thinking.
'Wait, I remember now. I woke up and shouted I'm feeling so good and then they dragged me…'
He lowered his head with a resigned expression and trudged to the women.
Sia expanded her chair and pulled him to her side. Pointing to a planet in the book she's reading titled <A Guide To Major Cultures of Pala Kingdom>, she eagerly said.
"Look at these birds, the look like slime! Hehehehe!"
Enigma hummed and soundlessly connected their chairs. Then, she moved without noise and hugged his arm.
As if nothing had changed, she continued to watch a kid's cartoon about a magical girl who goes into the dreams of people and helps their lives.
"Ahem, ahem."
A ripple of time later…or before? He was resting his head on Sarah's lap who was leaning back against the chair while going through administrative reports.
"…"
A glare of jealousy was felt without needing to turn his head, a twitch of gravity was felt and Isadora appeared over him.
Using him as a body pillow, she swiped the pics of the vacation when Varian proposed to Sia and Sarah.
"Er..."
Varian was surrounded on left by Sia, right by Enigma, resting on Sarah and rested on by Isadora. But the man in queston was dumbfounded at the whole operation.
"The Alliance is celebrating." Sarah said.
"Even the newly discovered province was sent invitations for a grand banquet in Centaurus. If we can afford it, we can even go to Pala's capital and attend the feast." Isadora chuckled. "They're still in disbelief. All these parties are thrown to prove it to themselves that it's not a big prank."
"Congratulations, hubby. You made history. The first reconquest of the Alliance." Sia grinned with pride.
Only Enigma gave him a worried gaze and whispered. "Will it be enough?"
At her words, the joyful expressions of the three women collapsed and they glared at her collectively.
Like a rabbit stared at by three lionesses, Enigma buried her head in his chest in an attempt to hide herself.
"That social idiot…really," Sia shook her head.
"There's no need to be pessimistic, you know?" Isadora nodded with a forced smile.
"It should all be fine." Sarah added.
That's what they said but none of them looked confident. While what he achieved was a great feat in itself,
"…By any chance, did you prepare for the eventuality that I might die and did what you did to concieve my child in case I kick the bucket?"
"…"
"…"
"…"
Enigma whispered. "Nothing will happen if you're safe but if something happens, we planned to get into seclusion after giving birth and focus on revenge. And our children will continue to live, carrying the legacy and spark for revenge if we fail.
U-Uncle Evander isn't aware of the circumstnaces but he said he'll take all responsibility to raise his grandkids if we have to go into seclusion. So, we dragged you to the bedro—"
"Enigma!"
At the shout of Sarah, Enigma shivered and dug deeper into his embrace.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Varian patted her back while glaring at the three angry ladies. "I should be the one shouting. Stop these crazy thoughts, no, plans! I'm not dying and even if I die, you shouldn't try to get yourself killed!"
"Ah? Look into the mirror!" Isadora grabbed his collor with heavy emotion. "What will you do if I get killed by Immortal?"
"I'll fucking kill him." The answer rolled from his tongue without even any effort.
"And if he's backed by Yami and Kemin?"
"I will kill them too!" His body seemed to answer before his mind even caught up.
"Then shut up!"
The harsh retort was effective and he no longer complained.
With a sigh, he looked up at the sky dyed pink above the palace and murmured. "That old man, he's a bad, bad influence."
Sarah decided to change the topic. "We're waiting to initiate another synergy but it seems like your soul needs some more time to adjust."
"What I got in that one session, it was enough to pull me all the way from rank 1 to rank 9." Varian shook his head, expressing his disbelief. "I think it's reasonable for my body to take some time for adjustment."
"Do you want to train now to speed up the process? Maybe you can reach divine rank before they find us." Isadora proposed.
"And what changes if I do?" Varian let out a long sigh. "Low rank 9s are about as kill as a rank 1 in front of peak rank 9s. I don't want to imagine the difference between the first realm divine and second realm. It could only be more insane and unbeatable."
"As much as I hate to spoil the mood, you're right. I could fight across sub-ranks before. But the best I could hope in divine ranks is remaining the strongest within my sub-rank." Isadora raised her head and looked into his eyes.
"Maybe I can fight a sub-rank above?" Varian opined before laughing. "If I survive, of cours—ouch!"
"Don't make such jokes, we're really worried."
Space fluctuated gently and Varian appeared in the sky. "If one satellite galaxy won't cut it, then maybe two. If not two, then three. And if not three, then all."
He vanished without any trace of fluctuations using the power of Hortus.
