Divine Path System

Varian felt humiliated to walk in such stealth.

Even when he was far weaker, her was way more brazen. But now, he sent his clone first in the path to check for dangers.

If the clone could also search for the rulers by itself, he wouldn't have bothered to go at all.

'All clear in this sector too.'

He moved through the endless expanse of space, glowing with a small white glow in the devouring darkness.

Everytime he took a step forward, the world around him rippled, like a soft layer of bubble that would pop if he exerted just a little more force. But he did not. He dare not. The entire situation was too confusing, too mysterious.

Things could go very wrong. So, he didn't use the power of space-time at all and instead used the power of life as well as the power of order for travel.

Souls easily transversed larger distances compared to physical bodies. The guidance of order ensured that they weren't strayed into wrong paths.

He dissipated his body, transvered stellar distances and then recondensed back. Doing it over and over, he eventually stopped in front of a wormhole. Glowing with purple light on its edges, the unstable space looked like it would collapse at any moment. Charged with tremendous aura, its collapse would crack the space-time of the region to a terrible degree, trapping even divine rankers in the chaos.

There were wormholes like this in space. Rare but not so rare that Varian hadn't heard of them at all. He just never stepped into one before. Others might call him crazy but he wasn't reckless to take such a risk just for the sake of it.

But he had to now. "Nexus trio." Varian clenched his jaw with a bitter face. No, it's no longer trio now. Aphosis died to save him. The aura he sensed now was only Aridam's. Even Equilius, that old traitor, was missing. 'Aphosis…why did you do that? We don't even know each other well.'

Even though he was overcome with emotions, Varian knew in the back of his head that the being took only rational decisions. The leader of Nexus who maintained an indifferent look his entire life. Varian had never seen him show any expression. Even in the best of times and worst of times, Aphosis remained like a stable mountain, maintaing that neutral expression on his childish face.

The only time that neutrality was broken, the only time an emotion showed on that boyish face was during his death.

'He faced God Emperor before so why…' Swallowing his saliva, Varian stepped into the warmhole that any sane being avoided. Darkness swirled around him before exploding into a passage of lights. A powerful aura rose out of nowhere, bringing with it so much killing intent that every light was replaced by a bleeding red.

Formation upon formation activated. Rules were enforced one after another, constantly weakening and restraining Varian.

[Body-Soul integration halts in non-perfect spaces]

[Energy concentrates in unstable areas of space-time fabric]

[Matter begins to…]

It was a deadly trap, one enough to instantly kill any rank 1 divine. Heck, even a careless newbie rank 2 would not survive the shot.

"It's me."

But Varian casually swatted his hand. The formations shattered after barely offering any resistance. The attack beam dissipated into specks of starlight.

A white sun emerged in the world of crimson, painting everything white, revealing the plain landscape in front of him.

"You…" The man seemed aged, as if he's late into his 50s. No longer could he be called middle-aged. He's old. He's an old man.

Aridam, the Punisher, was an old man now.

And that old man stared at him dumbfounded, half-scared and half-confused. His lips were cracked and his throat seemed to be dry as he licked his lips while clenching his jaw.

The wrinkles on his forehead creased and he blinked at Varian, his brain crashing to a halt. Then, he pointed at him with a shaky finger and exclaimed. "It's you?! Why are you so strong?"

Varian was uncomfortable watching a former powerhouse turning so pathetic. Aridam wasn't like this. His voice didn't quiver, his fingers didn't shiver. He was an arrogant man, a confident warrior, a ruler out and out.

How could he turn like this?

"Varian, You're Varian!" Aridam exclaimed as he sensed the broken medallion of Aphosis. Eyes turning red, he asked in a hoarse voice. "Why are you so strong?"

"…Why are you so weak?" Varian asked with a bitter smile. Then, he returned the disrespectful gesture of using one's perception on another person. He understood then. "You still haven't recovered." There was a frown on his face as he said those words.

It was a positive framing of the situation. Aridam's injuries were getting worse with each day. He would be able to survive for a few million years but his strength would regress to rank 1 soon.

Once that happens, leaving this place and venturing into the outside world would be extremely dangerous. The factions he suppressed before might come out and seek revenge. But if he didn't want to face that risk, he'd have to stay incognito forever.

"I will not recover." Aridam said, plopping onto a smooth boulder that formed as he fell. Stretching out his wrinkled arms in evidence, he said in a wry tone. "I still can't expel his aura from me. I couldn't do it at my peak. I wasn't able to do it in fifty years. I won't be able to do it in the next fifty. And in any fifty that will follow." Varian frowned. He wasn't expecting this. Aridam was an important support in his plan. Without his support, he'd have to take up more burden in controlling the forbidden land of Order and Chaos.

Even without that, just the presence of a ruler was assuring. "I need an explanation." Varian made a boulder for himself in front of Aridam and sat on an equal seating with him. "You fought the God Emperor many times. Why did something like that happen now? Aphosis was fine every time but to protect me…"

Aridam looked down at the ground intently as Varian's voice trailed off. His eyes, which once burst with ambition and arrogance, were dull and helpless. Like a sun sinking into the horizon at dusk, he shrank down, to make himself smaller.

Varian didn't rush him. His soul powers were warned that any such move would backfire badly.

"We thought were fighting God Emperor. We knew it's his clone, his main body is in the God's Eye after all. But…" Aridam clenched his fists and his toes curled up, his body shivering as the scenes of that day flashed in his mind.

The once arrogant and loud voice of the Punisher was now feeble and faint, as if it was the whisper from a dying man. "The one we were fighting with so far was an incomplete clone. The one that day was a real clone."

"What?" Varian's boulder cracked as his hands resting on it suddenly exerted force. It cracked and he crashed to the ground awkwardly. But he couldn't care less about getting up. Staring blankly at the man who once ruled Nexus, he asked, swallowing. "What did you just say?"

Aridam looked up. There was no sky here. Only a world of white with a path of land in the center.

At first glance, it's a neat, orderly world. But upon a closer look, it's a hopeless world where nothing could happen. "Hopeless."

"Huh?"

"It was hopeless from the start. We didn't live beacuse we could fight him off together. We lived because he didn't want to kill us. A proper clone of his is enough to kill us all." Aridam's fist dug into his skin, his eyes bloodshot.

Varian never thought a member of Nexus, especially a ruling member would be so emotional.

But here he was, watching the Punisher of Nexus fall into a pit of despair he might never get out of.

Clutching his hair, the man groaned. In pain, in fear, in resgination.

"All our plans, all our hopes are pointless." He looked straight at Varian, the strong conviction burning his soul visible through those eyes. "There is no way to win. Give up, Varian."

Varian paused at those words spoken with so much confidence. Then, he stood up, dusted his clothes and smiled. "If it's hopeless, so be it. I'll try my best and die fighting. At least, I won't regret it in my last moments."

"Have you heard what I said?" Aridam hauled himself to his feet, grabbing Varian's shoulders violently. Varian looked at him quietly, letting him speak his mind. Once he noticed Aridam's condition, he already felt that the Punisher wouldn't be able to help. The God Emperor didn't kill him. He did something worse. He killed his spirit.

Aridam in front of him was just a shell of what he used to be. A man who decided to give up fighting all together and die in a lone place like this.

"How could you be like this? The alliance needs you. I need you. Keman and Yam—"

"Yami and Keman gave up first." Aridam yelled, tears swirling in his eyes.

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