Durasium was one of the most expensive materials in the federation.
Buying it not only required money, but also power and relevant connections.
Varian had 9-star treasures from Boo's old collection, so money wasn't a problem.
But power and connections, he had none.
So, what did he do?
He visited the Durasium supplies of Shadow Order by backtracking the space shuttles bringing the material to the secret realm.
After getting his hands on a few thin sheets that couldn't be thinner, he used the four ragnarorks collected and tested it against different thicknesses.
The result was rather simple.
He didn't bother understanding Boo's technical explanation. The summary was this:
Ragnarok only served as a spark. The fuel was Durasium itself.
The more durasium was present, the larger the explosion.
These guys were only using a thin sheet of durasium and were having sizable explosions.
So, to get an idea of what would happen if these ragnarorks were used in the S-facility of cluster cities, Varian returned to Valos and sneaked into its military region.
"Thick!"
It sounded a bit wrong, but that was the only word he could think of.
The city kernel was present in a large cubical grey building. As expected, every square inch of its walls was durasium.
The walls' thickness was 1 fricking meter!
Boo played a simulation of what'd happen if the ragnarorks are thrown inside this large building.
Boom!
Boom!
Varian stared at the hologram blankly for minutes before cursing. "Motherfuckers!"
What terrorist attacks? What invasion?
They were going to fucking blow up the city!
Yes!
The volume of durasium here was a few million times higher than at the test site.
And following the tests, an explosion initiated would be so destructive that it'd break the city to pieces.
Boom!
Boom!
The simulation continued on and on.
Varian watched the bright Valos in space.
Some areas of it were exceptionally bright, almost dazzling him. Others were not so.
Even from space, the disparity of the city was clear.
It reeked of injustice, fear, and darkness, threatening to devour everyone.
Yet, this same city of depravity was home to millions.
Millions of destitute that dreamt of a bright future every day, however tough their current life may be. People that even didn't know they were living in a cage. That the government had neglected them because they weren't important.
Yet, they did their best. To survive.
If so many hopes and aspirations were to die…
Varian closed his eyes as he tried to stop his ragged breathing. But no matter how much he tried, his heart couldn't calm down.
It was like…it was somewhat similar to watching his mother's death.
He was full of rage.
And fear.
His back was already drenched in cold sweat as he felt terrifying fear creep in his mind.
If…If he didn't find out the truth, then—
"Gulp!"
Varian raised his hand to tap his comm, but he found his hand was shivering.
"Haa~" He tried to calm himself and call Enigma. But his mind was filled with images of corpses, burnt and broken, floating in space.
In those corpses, he saw Billy, Edwina, Betty, and Vinar…
"Argh!" His knees gave out and he was sitting on the floor the next moment.
"Master! Master! What happened?" Boo's worried voice reached his ears, but they didn't make it to his brain.
Varian didn't know what was happening to him, but his mind was completely blank and all he felt was a deep mix of rage and fear.
His mental power slowly began to work and cooled him down.
After five minutes, Varian stood up and exhaled deeply.
"I-I'm fine." Varian looked at his sweaty palms and answered with a pale face. His voice was a bit shaky.
"Master, you're worrying too much," Boo said. "How will they even get those bombs inside? This city kernel is only a mile from teleportation formation and both are in the core zone. Not anybody can enter this place."
Varian's eyes lit up and he punched his palm!
"M-Master? Master?" Boo called out, but Varian didn't respond and started a call with Enigma.
*** *** ***
Enigma too blankly stared at the city blowing up in the hologram. Her mask covered her entire face except for her eyes.
But those tri-color eyes showed her extreme emotions.
After a minute, she calmed down. Of course, from the way she clenched her fists so tightly that the black fabric was ripped apart and blood dripped on her seat, she was anything but relaxed.
"…Thank you," Enigma whispered in a soft voice, completely unlike her coldness.
She looked at him with a complicated gaze. He had a pale face indicating how much his reveal affected him, yet his eyes… were never so determined. He would stop the Abyssals at any cost.
Enigma felt that if it wasn't for her constantly nagging him, he might have taken some dangerous risk already. Maybe. But she knew very well what Varian was like.
"But how will they get the bombs inside?" Enigma asked softly. Boo also perked its ears and listened carefully.
"The kidnaps," Varian said in a rather tired, but confident voice.
"Kidnaps?" Boo and Enigma looked at him in confusion.
"Aren't they for aura crystals…wait!" Enigma's eyes widened and she slapped her chair.
"There were too many kidnaps for aura crystals, We overlooked the kidnappings of powerful military officers' children as the same." Varian spread his arms.
"But they…they did the unthinkable. By hook or crook, they managed to get military officers from each city on their side." Enigma said in a voice filled with incredulity.
"Yes." Varian nodded and clicked on his comm.
The files of 17 high military officers popped up. The seventeenth was Colin, Betty's father.
With a complicated expression, Varian said. "I initially thought these 16 people were spied by the Order. But Nah, each of these 16 had some loved one kidnapped.
Out of these, only Betty's kidnap is so public and it is also the latest.
The rest…their children or grandchildren suddenly disappeared for a day, citing reasons like tour or training.
After that, everything was normal. But that one day…they were silently kidnapped and injected with poison.
Just like Colin, they all decided to obey."
Enigma slumped in her chair and tried to process everything.
Suddenly, Varian started laughing.
"The full-scale war is fake. The Sequoias are fake. Their real target was the cluster cities.
Unlike before, these high-ranking military officers can easily do their 'job'.
Abyssals…they are way, way more insidious than I expected.
Who came up with this plan, I wonder? The Abyss Princes? The Archdukes? The Abyss Kings and Queens? or Him?"
Slowly, his laughter died down and he said in a bone-chilling voice. "After this clusterfuck, I really can't help but wonder, is the real goal really cluster cities?"
*** ***
A/N: Apologies for the late release.