Will of Heaven.
Long ago, modern humans thought they discovered the nature of reality and branded things such as heaven, hell, and soul as fabrications by their ancestors made when they had to cope with a powerful nature.
They were sure that they were right or at least, their ancestors were wrong.
Ironically, they were proven wrong four hundred years later.
In 400 YAB, an alien species appeared out of nowhere and nearly drove humanity to extinction.
At that time, the Abyssal Kings and Queens didn't appear in front of humans yet. There were many speculations and theories why this was the case.
But even without them, Abyssals had significantly more awakeners in each level and easily overwhelmed humans.
Humanity was driven out of planetoids and moons. Back then, these areas weren't fortified as there was no external threat. It happened so fast that no one really knew what was going on.
By the time things became clear, humanity was confined to the nine planets. Their physical connections were cut off and they were all under siege.
Everyone thought humanity was going to be extinct. But during their desperate resistance, humans discovered abyssals were significantly weaker on the planets.
Almost 10%!
Humanity exploited this gap and fought with lower forces.
At around 430 YAB, six artifacts and numerous treasures were discovered in ruins.
Shortly after, eight individuals, once per planet became Sovereigns.
It was due to their immense talent and extraordinary hard work.
Or so he was taught.
"What does Heaven's Will got anything to do with this?" Varian asked with a strange premonition.
"Our aura was locked away by Devas." Irene Nial said, recalling them in reverence. But her expression soon turned into resentment.
"The aura lock was broken, but there is another lock left. Something that affects all peak level 9s trying to reach Sovereign state."
Varian was dumbfounded at the sudden reveal. Leaning back into his seat, he frowned. "This second lock restricts new Sovereigns?"
"No. It amplifies the difficulty by multiple times." Sovereign Irene explained, rubbing her forehead.
"This amplification is high enough that no one in this 80 years reached Sovereign state naturally. Nowadays, we do wonder if it's even possible to become a Sovereign naturally. But our public narrative was that it's possible."
Varian squinted his eyes at the older woman. "So, you eight became Sovereigns through external factors…by Heaven's Will?'
Irene didn't refute his statement.
"Every Sovereign would receive a boost during they're at the peak of level 9. Heaven's Will helps us become Sovereigns despite the deva locks." She raised her hands. "That includes me and the other seven Sovereigns."
Varian shook his head and sighed. The artifact holding and highest treasure finders were criteria for first-generation Sovereigns.
But now?
"The level 9s closest to Sovereign state are picked by Heaven's Will." Irene seemed to guess his doubt and answered.
"Heaven's Will was the reason humans got 8 Sovereigns during the first war in a short period. It's like Heaven's Will is using us to protect the planets, or more precisely, the ruins."
Varian's eyes widened. Yes, back then, eight level 9s reached Sovereigns within a year. Without Heaven Will's intervention, it's impossible.
"Don't let non-Sovereigns…I mean, practically no one else shouldn't know." Irene said with a serious face.
Varian nodded.
"Ah, I need to go." She looked at her comm and waved at him. "Hit me up if you need any help."
Looking at her busy countenance, Varian suddenly had a question. 'Would the Will of Heaven also push a Sovereign to Celestial Rank?'
….the answer was yes.
It's just neither he nor Irene knew about it.
Except for the human sovereign who kept waiting for his chance, no other human knew.
They didn't know that Heaven's Will also had its limits. Eight Sovereigns were its limit.
These eight were equivalent to stewards of each planet. Out of these eight, if one gets six artifacts, then he'd become an inheritor.
This inheritor would be given complete deva legacy and at the same time, be pushed to Celestial Rank.
*** *** ***
"Suddenly calling reinforcements from across the solar system, arresting military officers without any evidence, capturing citizens calling them as sleeper cells…" Sovereign Albert read out the list of grievances against Sovereign Irene as the eight sovereigns gathered around a long table.
Their meetings were supposed to be rare, but for some reason, this year was breaking rules.
As the other six Sovereigns stared at her, Sovereign Irene calmly looked at Albert who finished the list.
"These are the complaints against you. Of course, you've done the right thing. The only question is…how did you know? Even our best intelligence agents found nothing, but you…" His voice turned serious at the end.
The other Sovereigns' gaze also turned heavy as they focused on her. Even though they were only holograms, it was too intense.
But Irene Nial didn't even flinch.
"Why bother asking? It's him, of course." Irene Nial chuckled.
Sovereign Ares slapped the table. "We were all fooled. If not for him, cluster cities would be gone and Neptune would be next."
Just imagining the possibility, which without Dreamer was a certainty made him tremble. Clenching his fist, he glared at the other Sovereigns. "You cowards, you didn't even want to send reinforcements back then."
"We had no evidence back then. Something like an attack on cluster cities could've happened on any planet." Sovereign Julius countered.
"We can't believe Dreamer either. What if he lied? We could've suffered heavy losses.
Thankfully, he didn't. But rather than relying on others, we should rely on ourselves." Saying so, he glanced meaningfully at Irene.
"Hmph!" Irene snorted. "Julius, you should stop underestimating everyone."
"Oh?" Julius raised a brow.
"Whatever Dreamer did till now, from exposing Dungeons to showing the Order's secret realm to even this mission, they were extremely helpful to the federation. Even you can't deny it."
"But—" Before he could finish, Irene cut him off.
"But we can't trust him because we don't know his identity, right?" She stood up and gazed down at him.
"And what do you think can make me or anyone trust you? How do we ensure that your actions always keep humanity's best interests at heart and not your own?"
Julius' eyes chilled and in a dangerously cold voice, he said. "You're doubting me? What proof do you have?"
"You're not deaf, are you?" Irene scoffed. "Forget about Dreamer, what about Shadow Guardians?"
She turned to the other Sovereigns. "You should all know by now that the anonymous level 8s and level 9s that assisted us are from the guardians.
Not just that, when the war was about to begin, tens of thousands of less-known warriors joined the army. A lot of them are from the guardians.
Do we still keep questioning their loyalty?"
Her sharp voice resounded across the hall and the Sovereigns were silenced.
Sovereing Julius stood up and looked at everyone calmly. "Omega potions have passed the testing."
The Sovereigns perked their ears and listened carefully.
Omega potions were similar but superior to Siloy potions. They were being developed for almost a year.
If they could be mass produced, human armed forces could defeat the abyssals in a year or two.
"But as you know, our production capacity is limited. We have only a few hundred potions." Julius said with a regretful face.
Then he turned his gaze towards Irene. "And the one that stole the materials is Enigma."
Irene's expression froze.
Julius turned to the rest. "Everyone, do you think it's in the best interest of the federation to declare the thief who stole strategic material as a terrorist?"