Divine Path System

"Of course, I will not ask you anything. After throwing you on the battlefield, fighting or not fighting is your decision." Varian answered with such an innocent expression that the woman almost believed him.

"C-Cheating…I just want to sit here for a year." The woman grumbled with tears in the corner of her eyes.

"We'll not deploy you unless needed. So please don't turn this court session into a drama now." Varian groaned in frustration and waved at the final person standing behind the door.

"Now, the last ones."

The footsteps were calm and steady yet Bali and Kevin instinctively stood up and channeled their aura.

It was a burly man again but he had no four arms or grey eyes. He just had two horns on his head and a wide smile on his face.

"Berserkers from Neptune Ruins. They really like battles." Varian smiled at the berserker with an even more battle-crazed smile.

The berserker couldn't smile anymore and ran to his seat as if his life depended on it.

Compared to his battle junkie vibes at the start, now he seemed like an honest kitten.

"You guys are real downers, man. Can't even fight for a day." Varian whispered in contempt.

If the Berserkers heard his words, they'd faint in anger.

When Varian first introduced himself, they invited him to fight and prove himself.

Prove he did by defeating their chief—the only celestial ranker. Then he lowered his power to the level of a sovereign and started fighting the complete elite group of berserkers.

All Sovereigns, level 9s, level 8s, and even level 7s were included. He killed none of them but broke countless bones.

And to their horror, he kept fighting without any end in sight. That day, Berserkers saw a man who was crazier than them for battle.

That's precisely why they submitted to him wholeheartedly—though Varian would argue it's his charisma at work—the charisma that he suddenly found in the elven domain.

"Formulate steps to assimilate them into the human society. Don't rush it on the civilian side. But rush it on the military side. And send a batch of their geniuses to the Imperial Academy." Varian said.

Bali stormed to his feet and pointed to the eight race representatives. "Your Majesty, we're already having trouble with assimilating elves. How can we even think of making the problem eight times worse?"

Kevin nodded and added his points. Vanhoff too sided with them and explained his position. Irene said her words and sighed. Alison stayed out of this. The representatives, of course, didn't speak.

"I understand your concerns. They're all valid." Varian nodded, much to their surprise. "But it's a risk we have to take."

"Risk for what? What's so urgent now?" Alison asked in confusion.

Varian looked up at the ceiling and exhaled deeply. Then a heavy aura filled the throne hall, almost suffocating the ones present. "Nothing said here, I mean, not a single word, goes out, do you hear me?"

Everyone nodded, slightly frightened but more curious.

With a snap of his fingers, a letter floated into the air and a large hologram zoomed its contents for everyone to read.

"…"

"…"

"…"

A heavy, depressing silence filled the throne hall.

"…I see, that's why." Bali looked at the eight race representatives and understood the reason behind Varian's actions.

"We'll do our best to grow stronger. Human race and all races, we're in this together. If they come here, they'll not spare any life." Deigo nodded with a grave expression.

Varian nodded lightly. "I'll be leaving for a while. So, this will be the last meeting for some time. If there's any important issue, bring it on."

"Ruins again?" Alison muttered softly.

"No." Varian shook his head and stared out into the sky. "I'm going out of the solar system…to other civilizations."

His words shocked them all, especially the ministers.

"Is there a risk to your life? No, rather, how much is the risk?" Irene asked.

"I'm just going to buy some important materials. A trip like this wouldn't be very risky." Varian gave a carefree smile.

Alison wasn't convinced. But she looked at the eight race representatives in the hall and shut her mouth.

From her vast experience, she felt that he wasn't lying. And he technically didn't lie.

'A trip like this wouldn't be that dangerous. But it's not the trip, it's the traveller.' Varian smiled wryly. 'I can bet my balls that something will fuck up on this trip.' Of course, he'd never say it out loud.

But he must go.

One, he had to understand the neighboring powers and the political climate. What Human Empire could and could not do. As well as the greater threats and opportunities.

Two, all six artifacts were damaged. He had to repair them. They'd give him more power boost. Equally important would be access to the legacy of devas. The artifacts in their current condition couldn't lead him to it.

Three, Boo needed some more parts.

Still, Varian wanted to stay. He'd rather explore the ruins and grow stronger. But there's a problem.

The ruins weren't completely open yet. He could feel the aura of a rank 3 beast in each ruin but couldn't enter that space. It's sealed. According to the little wings, the artifacts need to get in shape for the ruins to be completely unlocked.

All in all, he needed to make this trip. And how would he go?

Well, there were a bunch of spaceships sent out of the solar system when the abyssals attacked and everyone thought humans were going to go extinct.

The people in those spaceships were recalled but the spaceships were allowed to move forward.

Thanks to the help of little wings and Boo, he recognized some alien spaceships.

As Boo said long ago, this region was uninhabited and treated as a wasteland. So, few people actually came here. But when they did, it was most likely for something shady.

And these spaceships wouldn't even pass by the solar system. He had to go for a long distance to reach them. It's as expected given this region's history and actually good for humans.

From the readings of their power by little wings, none of these spaceships exhibited any rank 2 celestial power.

Amidst Varian's thoughts, the meeting ended after several hours.

Then he bid farewell to them, sent a few messages to his wives, and reached a special space gate on the eighth floor of the palace.

It was built by the Hortian blacksmiths recently and its coordinates are directed far away from the solar system, just a few billion miles away from the alien spaceships.

Varian closed his eyes and exhaled. "I'll be back."

Then he disappeared into the shining space gate.