885 Old Friends

Forget Sarah and Sia, even Varian was shocked by the instant death of the Sovereign.

Even though he instinctively knew that the attack from sliver power was beyond a Sovereign, he expected a bit of fight. But it turned out to be too strong.

Sia gulped and asked in disbelief. "W-What was that?"

Varian wanted to explain but Sarah grabbed his hand and looked at them with a stern expression. "Let's leave this place first. I have a bad feeling."

"Bad feeling?" Sia didn't argue and the trio teleported a few hundred miles away.

Just a few seconds after they left, a woman appeared at the location. Her smooth silky green dress blended her with the scenary around.

This region was at the border of the "Forest". The brawl here resulted in the release of a strange aura that attracted a lot of beasts from the depths of the forest, including Sovereign beasts.

But the moment they sensed the Matriarch's aura, the beasts growled unwillingly and returned to their nests.

The woman whose mere presence repelled the beasts was entranced in looking at the giant pit in front of her.

The forest land in the surrounding thirty miles was completely cleared. The river that was flowing nearby was nowhere to be found! All the beasts in the surroundings were either dead or crippled.

"Hm…"

The Matriarch closed her eyes and sensed the lingering energy from the pit. It's something that felt familiar but also different.

'What is this power that evokes deep fear in me?'

The more she scrutinized the esoteric power, the more fear the Matriarch felt.

When she finally reached a threshold, her body trembled violently and she collapsed onto her knees.

Her body was filled with cold sweat and her breathing was ragged. Her calm heart was on the verge of breaking out of her chest and her mind was blank.

She caught a glimpse of this power. At that single moment, she felt the universe collapse in front of her very eyes.

'Strands of slivers?' The Matriarch took a few deep breaths.

Her expression changed and the tiara on her head shone. The next moment, the Matriarch appeared thousands of miles away, in the palace of a giant forest city.

Disregarding the surprised guards, she stormed into the core chamber.

It was pitch black and even with her senses, the Matriarch felt blind. The place, by design, invoked nervousness.

Throwing off the unease, the Matriarch stepped forward until she walked into the light. In the dark chamber, this light was emanated by a floating sphere. Inside the sphere were six colorful thin threads—strands of six slivers.

"This is it!" The Matriarch compared the slivers and recognized the familiarity.

Of course, there were still differences but it's clear that the 'invader' had strands of slivers. Particularly, the strands of Order and Chaos slivers.

When those slivers came to mind, another name popped up in the Matriarch's mind. "D-Devas?"

It was thousands of years since the last Deva contacted them. They had almost forgotten that they had such an 'ally'. After all, Devas received a lot of help from them and never repaid the promise.

According to the myths and legends of her world, the six tribes fought a fanatical war.

Heaven Tribe was wiped out and their time sliver was taken by the Neveah tribe. Ares tribe was nearly exterminated by the Sera tribe. But instead of losing their sliver, the Ares tribe snatched the Order Sliver and fled. Vita and Avit tribes fought but didn't escalate to the point of extermination.

That's the normal myth everyone knew. But the folklore that circulated here had something extra. The Ares tribe that was being hunted down by the Sera tribe was on the verge of extinction. It was the people of this Synthetic World that let them in and sheltered them.

Her ancestors helped the Ares tribe. And it's in this land that they abandoned their roots and turned into Devas.

As thanks for the irreplaceable help, the Devas promised to conquer this Synthetic and free them from its clutches.

After all, the natives were bound to their Synthetic World and could only leave if the World got 'conquered'.

For tens of thousands of years, Devas kept trying to conquer this world to no avail. But a few thousand years ago, they stopped altogether.

For the natives, this was akin to a betrayal.

'Not a single message for thousands of years. Now you suddenly show up, without even an apology. Do you think I'll allow such disregard for my people?' The Matriarch clenched her fist and the palace started shaking.

After concluding that these invaders were indeed from the Deva Empire, the Matriarch's fear was replaced by anger.

She had no good feelings for these Devas. She only wanted to restrain and torture them until they regretted coming here. But she couldn't risk that when they possibly possessed more strands of slivers.

"The best way is to let them go into the Inner World. No one has passed the trial. Like everyone before them, they too will die." The Matriarch's lips curled into a vicious smile.

But after another thought, she pursed her green lips into a thin line. "If I just let them in…it'd be no fun."

Now that she calmed down, the Matriarch felt that her fears were overblown.

The strands of slivers should've been given to the team for passing the trial. The fact that they used it even before entering meant that this new team was extremely incompetent.

'I still need to be careful but I can…'

The Matriarch chuckled and tapped her bracelet. A few voices responded with respect.

"Guide the three invaders into the lair of the Golden Tree. Inform it beforehand to finish them off. In return for the favor, we'll not pick fights with him for fifty years."

"The previous invaders all had a Sovereign and a hybrid in their team. This one should be no different. They'll most likely win."

The Matriarch would've thought so too if not for the traces of sliver powers.

For one reason or another, this team had to use the sliver powers in the forest. If they're strong, why would they resort to such a method?

"They're weak. Anyway, convey my words to the Golden Tree. If they lose, then we'll have gotten rid of three invaders. If they win, rob the remains of the Golden Tree. It's very precious."

"As expected of you, Matriarch! We'll benefit regardless of the outcome."

"Stop flattery, get to work."