642 A Promise
"It's done!" The wings said in a relieved tone.
Boom!
Seven distinct auras shot out from Varian's body before they were quickly hidden.
Varian clenched his fists and felt the tremendous strength overflowing in his body.
It was just a blink of an eye, but the world completely changed.
His body was filled with strength. He could perceive the space all around him. His mind was crystal clear and his memory was perfect. A huge vitality flowed in his body every second and many more.
'My powers…finally!' Varian fist-pumped the air.
Boom!
The air exploded and the shockwave reached every corner of the room.
"Thank you very much." Varian patted the wings and smiled.
"Eh~ It's not much, really." The wings twisted, as if embarrassed before saying. "B-But it took a bit longer than I thought."
Varian's hand froze at those words.
He recalled the 'time' the altar was off.
For the mortal him, it was a blink of an eye.
But for the current him…
'It's a significant time.'
Varian's brows furrowed and an ominous premonition spread in his heart.
'I didn't fuck up anything…right?'
He had to go up to be certain.
As he was about to bid farewell to the wings, he caught the glimpse of the third altar.
The white altar.
The altar which was engraved with a pair of wings and a halo overseeing the entire solar system.
Varian's mind spun and he quickly asked the pair of wings. "Hey, what does this do?"
"…It?" The wings' voice trailed off before it said in an embarrassed tone. "I-It's supposed to be my home."
"It's where Heaven's Will resides?" Varian raised a brow in surprise.
'Heaven's Will' was a daily term for an average citizen across the federation. Like all things in popular culture, Heaven's Will also had a collective belief.
It was an all-seeing, all-powerful, and all-knowing entity. It was something that resembled Heaven from old earth's myths and legends. Thus, it had no physical form.
So, when he found out that Heaven's Will might actually be residing in an altar, Varian's worldview flipped.
"Well, you can say so." The wings moved up and down as if nodding.
Varian took a deep breath and pushed down all his doubts for a later time.
He didn't know the situation above. It was better to go up as soon as possible. But there was one thing he had to ask.
"Can you remove the restriction on ghost ship?" Varian requested as he pointed to his finger.
Any other person wouldn't be able to find anything but the pair of wings wasn't any other person.
It quickly exclaimed. "So this is where the suppression was going towards."
"Huh?" Varian let out a confused sound.
"Scion, the Heaven's Will was suppressing something on you. I was confused since I couldn't find anything from a basic glance and I didn't want to intrude your privacy. So…"
"Ah." Varian nodded before furrowing his brows. "So, can you remove the suppression? I really need Boo back."
"Well…" The wings stayed still, falling silent.
Varian was in a hurry and wanted to ask the wings to hurry up. But what if something went wrong if he did things in a hurry?
"Haa! Haa!" Varian took deep breaths and calmed himself. But he couldn't stop his heart from pounding.
With each passing second, it felt like hours were passing by.
Time. Time. Time!
'It's almost 3.5 seconds already!' Varian nearly screamed.
In the end, he couldn't help saying. "H-Hurry up…"
"Ah!" The wings suddenly flapped, as if coming out of a daze. With a flap, the wings stood in front of his face.
"I can do the same as I did for the previous altar. I can shut it down for a moment and then, change the targets of the effect." It explained.
Varian's eyes narrowed.
Previously, the sealing altar was restricting levels in the prince's hall to level 7 and sealing off all levels in prison. Now, the target of those restrictions was only the prince's hall.
If the same thing happened again, then only Boo would be free of suppression.
Varian was about to nod when his brows suddenly jumped. "Ye-Wait, you will shut it down for a moment? You will shut down what?"
"…Heaven's Will, obviously?" The wings flapped around him as if confused. "I mean, I don't really have much authority over Heaven's Will, but this is a small tinkering. I can do it. But only if I can shut it down."
Varian rubbed his forehead and asked. "That 'moment', will it be the same duration as the last time?"
"Well~ That's my best time." The wings said and looking at Varian's serious face, it felt like it did something bad.
"S-Sorry…I-I don't really have authority here. I-I'm just an abandoned thing." The wings drooped.
"Don't worry about it." Varian's patted it lightly and the wings cheered up.
The wings said in a cheerful tone. "Then I will—"
"Don't." Varian cut it off.
"But why? Don't you want your ship?" It asked, tilting to the left in confusion.
"It's too risky." Varian sighed.
Heaven's Will was too important.
Every day, lots of wars were fought in the federation. Even at this moment, there would be tens of thousands of individuals fighting.
Like every other level, level 7s, level 8s, and level 9s would also be fighting at this moment.
The reason humanity was able to even out abyssals was not just their own strength but also the suppression of abyssals under Heaven's will.
Sure, the suppression was only a small part of a high level abyssal's power. But at this level, even just a bit of extra strength had huge implications.
So, what would happen if Heaven's Will suddenly disappears?
Low awakeners wouldn't even notice it.
Mid awakeners would notice it, but wouldn't be able to respond.
Then coming to high awakeners…
Level 7s would notice it. The level 7 abyssals, now free of heaven's will, would be able to land at least one blow in that small gap.
Level 8s would be able to carry at least six hits.
Level 9s…
That small gap would be decisive.
If a human level 9 and abyssal level 9 were fighting evenly, that 'moment' without Heaven's Will would create an opportunity for the level 9 abyssal to finish off the human.
So, if Varian rashly agreed, then he might cause the deaths of level 9s.
"…Seriously, you don't want it?"
"It's really a tough decision. But no." Varian's shoulders sagged and he caressed the wings and smiled. "Thank you for everything. I'll visit you in the future after I clear up my mess, okay?"
Varian turned around and kicked the ground, about to run.
The wings that remained silent until then suddenly shouted. "I-I'll try to fix it without turning the altar off. It'll take more time, but I'll give my best. So, please come and visit. Don't forget, okay?"
There was a pleading in those words that he couldn't ignore.
So, Varian, who was about to leave, paused.
The wings…it seemed to have misunderstood something.
'Scion is leaving because he thinks I'm useless.'
Or.
'I can't help Scion. So, he's leaving to solve the problem by himself.'
Varian sighed inwardly. Looking after a child was so a burden. But when the child was so earnest, it'd be a burden many would be willing to shoulder.
The wings floated at his eye level and were quivering in anticipation and fear of rejection.
Varian smiled brightly. "Do your best. Whether you succeed or not, I'll visit you again. Then, I'll introduce you to a cute ghost, okay?"
"Promise?" One of the wings stretched forward.
"Haha. Where did you learn this?" Varian laughed and stretched a finger forward, locking it with the wing.
"Ehehehe." The wing laughed like a child seeing their birthday present and pushed Varian lightly.
"Don't delay any longer. I'll do my best."
Varian nodded and his body flashed.
Whoosh!
As if he never appeared, the room turned vacant.
The wings, cheerful until then drooped abruptly. "…Lonely again…wooo~"
But it pulled itself together and flapped to the altar. It sat on the altar and connected to the 'Heaven's Will'.
A bright flashed in the room and the wings quivered in pain.
"Aghhh! It hurts!"
As it told before, it didn't have much authority. The most it could do was little changes here and there.
But it had to do it without the security systems noticing it or it'd be punished.
That's why it turned off the altars before making changes.
Now…
Zzzz!
A lightning bolt came out materialized in the room and stuck down the wings.
"Waaa!"
The wings shook violently as it started crying out in pain. But it stubbornly clung to the altar.
"Just a bit…I can endure a bit more."
Since its birth, it was all by itself.
Zzzz!
"Kuh…I can still go on."
The first person it talked to was Scion himself.
Zzz!
"Aghhh! I have to do it."
At first, it only had respect and reverence. But with his words and gestures, the Scion made it feel his kindness.
He treated it like a child…which it was.
A child who was abandoned by its parents was showered in kindness by someone it met for the first time…
Zzz!
"I…I'll see you again, Scion."
They promised.
Its first promise!
It'd uphold it at any cost!
