Eric thought Rohak would question him about his actions. But he didn't. After dropping him off at his home, he left with a sentence.
"Sovereign Julius doesn't know why you did what you did. But he doesn't want to see things escalate."
"I'll thank him personally." Eric bowed and entered his house.
A desolate home.
There were pictures of him and a little girl over the walls.
Eric looked at the little girl and clenched his fists. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Soon…"
He immediately 'sealed' off his home and entered the basement. A white table sat in the middle of the black-coated basement.
On top of the table laid a red sphere.
Eric controlled his breath and gently tapped it.
With a click, the sphere activated and emitted grey light which slowly morphed into an Abyssal.
"Prince Abrax." Eric greeted politely, withholding his rage.
"Hm. You're that human…Erek?" Prince Abrax tapped the armrest on his throne and yawned.
But his red eyes shone with a fierce glint and showed that he was just playing around.
"I'm Eric. I did what you asked with Varian. Now can you please release my granddaughter?" Eric swallowed the humiliation and begged.
"…Right! I'll order the Shadow dogs." Abrax nodded nonchalantly.
Then he looked playfully at Eric and smiled. "But I didn't expect you to be so cold-hearted. You know it could be dangerous and yet you went ahead with the plan."
Eric's fingers dug into his palm and blood dripped on the floor. Yet, he didn't show any anger.
He simply said. "Varian is a genius, but I want my granddaughter to be alive."
"Hahaha. Well said." Prince Abrax clapped and commended.
"Your granddaughter will return to you safely. But of course, this is only the beginning of our deal."
Eric's face paled.
"Once you enter the Abyss, there is no going back." Abrax said and cut off the communication.
Far away in the Demon Abyss, Abrax propped his chin on his hand as he smiled widely.
"Varian…Enigma…it seems like it's true. Hahahhahaha." His laughter resounded throughout his castle.
The maids and guards were accustomed to this and went on with their work.
Meanwhile, an abyssals in the communication department room of the castle received a letter and started reading it with wide eyes.
"Even though humans would be extinct before this Varian grew up, killing him is not a bad credit. Especially since he's related to Enigma." Abrax tapped a human tech—comm and a few holograms popped in front of him.
After his father, Demon King's attempt to destroy Rena planetoid was blocked by Julius Xander, he was angry and vented in the capital city.
Abrax happened to be there at that time and learned about a mission his majesty the Emperor said passingly.
'Kill Varian…he's weird.'
It wasn't an important mission in the first place.
But Demon King wanted to redeem himself of his two failures—destruction of the Holy Altar and missing the Ghost Ship.
He thought killing Varian was easy and decided to destroy all geniuses of Earth. Even though it wasn't very important, at least he could be satisfied that he finished one of his majestyy's mission.
But he failed again. This third failure put him into rage.
Abrax initially thought that this Varian was some big shot. Otherwise, his father wouldn't be so angry, right? So, he ordered a deep investigation.
However, after realizing he was only a level 5, he went through Varian's life events. They were as plain as it could get.
A typical genius nurtured by Evander, getting lucky and finding Ambrosia, rising faster than peers.
Abrax didn't take it seriously and turned his attention back to Enigma.
Why?
Because after Demon King attacked Rena planetoid, Enigma killed the most talented princes and princesses of Demon Abyss.
And that included his elder brother and younger sister.
Abrax didn't think he was a kind person. But he sure loved his family. So, he found everything he could about Enigma and dived deep in.
But like everyone else, he didn't find anything extra.
Her origin. Her powers. Her connections.
Nothing.
…Until he noticed a faint connection between Enigma and Varian.
Enigma had Shadow Guardians investigate the three clans of Earth right after Varian disappeared.
Then she attacked them as expected but abruptly stopped—right after Varian appeared.
Initially, Abrax thought it was a coincidence.
That was until he went back and found another record.
Enigma's appearance during Varian's entrance test. Shortly after the Abyss Duke, an Abyss Prince also reached the site.
The Prince found a shocking fact.
Enigma never left.
Why?
No one knew back then, but now, Abrax was sure.
It was because of this boy called Varian.
Abrax decided to kill Varian. If he managed to make Enigma feel even 1% of his grief when he lost his siblings, he'd be satisfied.
So, Abrax ordered the Shadow Order dogs to assassinate Varian when he went to shopping with Sarah.
In a surprising turn of events, Varian somehow survived.
Abrax was frustrated, but he didn't give up.
He dug deeper and looked for things he could exploit. It cost him resources, connections and time, but he found out one more thing.
Varian's request.
It was never mentioned. Never fulfilled.
He also deeply studied Varian's life, his actions and words. Especially how he spent a complete year in depression, but suddenly decided to risk everything to join the academy.
'He wants something. He wants it badly.' Abrax concluded.
So, the next step was to find out his wish.
But there was a problem.
Only supervisor Eric knew about his wish.
But Eric had a cute granddaughter. His son and daughter-in-law were both soldiers and died on duty.
Eric retired from the frontlines to take care of her. He loved her so much and spoiled her.
She was his weakness.
Once the weakness was found, Abrax acted fast. He spent more resources and connections, he contacted the Shadow Order, the Chaos Families and finally had her kidnapped.
It cost him a lot more than he initially thought.
After knowing Varian's wish, Abrax checked the database for Sia. Of course, he found nothing.
He thought he wasted everything.
On the other hand, he just got the news about Varian's insane performance in the Solar Trial.
As a last ditch attempt, he had Eric reveal Varian's wish in the public.
Who would've thought that it was really something sensitive and did something he never could?!
Varian was dead!
But more importantly, someone from the Shadow Guardians, more likely Enigma, appeared on the scene and killed Narcis!
If this didn't prove that Enigma and Varian were connected, he didn't know what will.
"Enigma, I hope you're feeling the pain of losing a loved one. It's a pity, I'll never know who he was to you, but hey, all I want is your pain." Abrax covered his face and muttered.
After his glee, Abrax felt empty. He didn't kill Enigma after all.
"Prince! Prince!" A young abyssal rushed into the throne room.
Except for the maids and the guards, this thin abyssal was the only frequenter to the throne room.
"What is it?" Abrax raised a brow expectantly.
"D-Demon King has read your report about Enigma and Varian. He confirmed that Shadow Guardians, no, Enigma herself is attacking the members of Xander family.
He is pleased and mentioned this matter to his majesty.
You are assigned a task." The foreign affairs officer said excitedly.
"B-By his majesty himself?" Abrax stood and muttered in disbelief.
By Abyss Emperor himself…what an honor.
'This is something I will never shrink from.' Abrax straightened his back and walked down to the messenger and grabbed the letter.
"The plan in Uranus Cluster Cities is near completion. See if you can assist in the city of Valos. If you can't, don't force it."
"Valos…" Prince Abrax narrowed his eyes. He looked at his attendant and said. "Start preparations. I'm going to the Despair Abyss."
Valos City, here I come.
*** *** ***
This is the end of Volume 3.
I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the feedback about the pacing.
Next Volume is: Hero in the Shadow.
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