740 Holy Altar

"Fuck!" Varian cursed under his breath.

"We're almost caught!" Sia wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Shut up you two! Boo said this is a bad idea!" Boo glared at the man and woman.

Varian and Sia froze at Boo's words like criminals that were found guilty.

Just before, Boo alerted them that Mirage Queen had almost found them. Only after her scrutiny disappear did they sigh in relief.

Still, it's true that they opposed Boo's opinion of not sneaking into the castle. Indeed, it was very risky. They could've been in fatal danger.

But instead of accepting the mistake, Varian coughed and gave Sia a look.

"Sia, why are you this beautiful?"

"Why are you so handsome?"

The two sang praises of each other.

"Don't ignore Boo!" Boo yelled.

"Do you hear anything?" Varian asked with a face full of doubts.

"Nothing." Sia nodded with a straight face. "Nothing at all."

"…you shameless couple!" Boo stomped and pouted.

Varian coughed lightly. He knew Boo was genuinely worried. He knew it was risky. But he did it.

What other options did he have? Should he watch Mars burn?

'I want to slap my past self and Kreo. You two got me into trouble.'

Varian clicked his tongue and watched the situation outside. The ghost ship was currently transparent and in stealth mode.

So, they could see the outside situation without being caught.

"The security is indeed a bit too much," Varian commented as he observed the huge underground hall.

They were currently in the underground hall of the castle. The hall stretched in all directions, covering the area of several football fields.

What's more, it's completely filled with aura crystals.

At the center of the hall stood an altar.

Holy Altar.

An item treasured by abyssals for some reason.

Enigma destroyed the Holy Altar of Earth and as a result, she was chased by the archduke Mendis and forged a deep feud with abyssals.

"I told you, after demon abyss' holy altar is destroyed, they got very cautious." Sia tucked the strands of her behind her ear.

"Too cautious." Varian narrowed his eyes at the abyssals meditating near the altar.

His eyes flashed and a blue screen appeared in front of him.

[??? High Level 9 Psychic]

[??? High Level 9 Telekinetic]

[??? Mid Level 9 Psychic]

[??? Mid Level 9 Telekinetic]

It was ridiculous. Guarding the holy altar in the deepest layer of the castle!

Unlike Demon Abyss, Mirage Queen's capital was hard to access. Even the likes of Enigma would have to be mindful of the illusions.

But the abyssals only went above and beyond to secure the holy altar.

"What's the purpose of the holy altar?" Varian muttered.

During his time as Prince Var, he used the altars to teleport to the capital.

…Teleport.

A thought flashed in his mind.

It was a bit ridiculous since according to the abyssals themselves, they were too far away from their home abyss.

But what if it was true?

"Sia." Varian's voice was serious, so Sia listened to him carefully.

"I think Holy Altars are connected to the home abyss."

Sia's eyes froze.

Home Abyss.

Since abyssals that came here were only something equivalent to an expeditionary force, it's obvious that the home abyss would be much, much stronger.

Even without counting the abyss emperor, humans had no chance of defeating the home abyss.

All the theories and predictions regarding human-abyss power balance were made on the premise of their powers within the solar system.

But what if abyssals called their home abyss for help?

"…They're very far away, right?" Sia said with a forced smile. "Since these holy altars have space property, let's say, they are connected to the home abyss. But they're too far away. Teleporting anything should be impossible."

Varian tapped his chin.

"That's right! The abyssals are under the jurisdiction of the Jai Empire." Boo suddenly chirped.

"Hm?"

"Boo doesn't remember much. But Jai Empire doesn't rule this galaxy. So, abyssals  can at most be at the edges of our galaxy." With a serious expression, Boo said.

Varian and Sia were first relieved that the abyssals' home base was so far away.

That ensured that the chances of 'external forces' being sent to the solar system were almost zero.

But Boo's words left a deep shock on the couple.

"Doesn't rule this galaxy…that means a single empire rules a galaxy?" Varian asked with a hollow laugh.

Boo nodded seriously. "A couple."

"…"

Varian was sure that this empire was deeply related to the slivers and thus, he'd end up clashing with them.

'I'll leave it to my future self. I have my problems.' Varian shook his head and focused back on the holy altar.

The situation wasn't optimistic.

The plan was to attack the holy altar and force the Mirage Queen to stay inside the abyss until Bali came out.

But there were two problems.

Firstly, the security.

Using ghost ship, they could slowly sneak behind the abyssals and attack them.

Since they were mind awakeners, their bodies were weak and the sneak attacks could inflict a major injury on them.

Even then, it's hard for Enigma or Sia to take them head-on.

Then came the second problem.

Mirage Queen.

Any big movement they made in the underground hall would be found by her.

Of course, they could still sneak attack. But once they did, Mirage Queen would respond before their second attack.

It'd be great if they could finish everything in one blow and move.

But with her presence, that's impossible.

Varian rubbed his chin and fell into thought.

Then, he tapped his comm and sent a message to Irene Nial.

"Command the troops on planetoid to be prepared for an all-out war. Make full preparations. Give the Mirage Abyss an illusion that we're about to launch a full-scale attack."

Sia said earlier that the defense of the holy altar would change depending on the conditions of mars' planetoids.

Since Mars was going to show intent for an all-out war, of course, the high-end combat power would be called to the frontlines.

There could only be low level 9s and at most a mid level 9.

"As for the reason, announce that Kreo found that his daughter is kidnapped by abyssals."

Sia's eyes flashed as she understood the intent behind his actions and a smile bloomed on her face.

Varian smiled back at her and said. "It'll take a while before the security is replaced, before that, we need to rattle the Mirage Abyss a bit."

Sia understood his intention and smiled brightly. "Oh yes."

The hunting would begin.