After sending the former Apex Sovereigns to Battle Ax Bar.
Maximus called his children, grandchildren, and in-laws who stayed in the abyss.
Upon receiving the message, Liam and the others quickly dropped what they were doing and went to the Shadow Hunter Stronghold.
…
A few days later.
Maximus and the others looked at the people who arrived with smiles.
“Welcome back…”
“Dad… Mothers…” Lily and the girls muttered tearfully as they hugged them.
Looking at the girls, Maximus unconsciously smiled.
Lily, Lyla, Lydia, and Cyra looked pretty fatigued but exuded an unfathomable aura.
Just by looking at them, one would know they had undergone intense battles regularly.
“Did you miss us?”
“We missed you a lot, Dad!” Lily muttered, looking at him pitifully.
Lily thought that their father would return just a few years after returning to the Etherium realm.
Who knew it would be decades later?
Although they had no problem staying in the abyss.
Fighting all the time, all day long, was pretty exhausting.
“Dad, did you also miss us?” Lyla asked, jumping on his back.
“We missed you a lot.”
“Then why didn’t you come earlier?” Lydia muttered, accusing him.
“Maybe Dad forgot about us…” Cyra chimed in.
“How could I forget about you! I’m just a bit busy.” Maximus reason.
“Anyway, it’s Dad’s fault.” Lyla huffed.
“That’s right!” The others quickly nodded.
Seeing that they wouldn’t stop, Maximus smiled wryly.
“Alright, alright, just tell me what you want.”
“Who told me to be your father?”
“Yay! Dad, you promise you will do anything?”
“Hmm.”
“Then we’re in for a treat!” Lily smirked, looking at her sisters planning for something.
“What about we talk while we eat?” Maximus suggested, seeing Erica just finished cooking.
The others also nodded, somewhat hungry.
…
At the table, Maximus looked at his two sons and asked,
“How about you, Liam and Max? How are you doing in the abyss?”
“We’re doing just fine, father,” Liam nodded.
“I’m fine too, Dad, just a little bored,” Max replied.
Although the abyss is full of fights and wars, it’s too monotonous for his liking.
Those abyss monsters didn’t have much skill.
They only rely on numbers and strength.
After decades of fighting with them, Max already grew bored.
“That’s good, that’s good.” ᴛʜs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛʀ s ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛ ʙʏ ovl(ꜰ)ir(e).nt
“How about you girls? Did your husbands wrong you?” Maximus asked, looking at Amara, Elysinee, and Ella.
“Hahaha, Liam wished,” Elysienne laughed a little.
Elysinee was already a High God; even if Liam was strong, he was just a tier 8, after all.
As for Amara, she just smiled.
Amara also regained her former glory, reaching tier 9.
After obtaining a few hundred quintillion crystal merits from Malgron, reaching tier 9 was just a matter of time.
As a boss, Malgron was quite generous, giving her vast amounts of resources without asking.
Although Amara would have liked to wait for Maximus to create the tier 9 chapter of ‘Origin’ before advancing, it was not possible.
Maximus had already told them that it was up to them to advance to tier 9.
This was a hurdle that only they could overcome.
Maximus didn’t know how long it would take him to conceive the tier 9 chapter of ‘Origin.’
Even now, with over a quintillion system points every day, he couldn’t foresee when he would conceive it.
Maybe a million years or epochs, Maximus was not sure.
He didn’t want them to waste their time because of him.
As for Ella, upon hearing Maximus ask if Max had done something wrong, she pouted.
“Yes, Max often beats me…”
“What?!” Maximus looked at Max as if wanted to beat him.
“Huh? But it’s a spar; aren’t I supposed to fight back?” Max looked puzzled.
“No, you’re supposed to stand there and let me beat you!”
“But, But-“
“Hmph! Anyway, you beat me! Punish him, Father-in-law!” Ella said, her eyes lighting up.
Seeing this, Maximus just smiled, looking at Max with pity.
“By the way, Father-in-law, my grandfather and grandmother were asking when you would marry my auntie.”
“This-” Maximus paused, looking at Denice.
Their wedding was getting so delayed that he almost forgot.
Doing everything that a husband and wife should do, Maximus thought it didn’t matter anymore.
However, looking at Ella’s seriousness and Denice’s longing, Maximus couldn’t definitively express his thoughts.
“The Moonlight Empire will be opened to the world in just a few years, and that day will also be the day I marry you all again…” Maximus looked at his wives seriously.
Since there would be a wedding ceremony, why not make it grander and include all his wives?
In the Etherium realm, there is no taboo in weddings.
It is not even highly regarded; only some nobles and traditional families care for it.
To marry multiple people at once is not uncommon.
There were even some emperors who married thousands every year or so to form their million or billion harems.
Maximus was already quite gentlemanly, marrying only over a dozen wives.
“Then I would tell my grandmother to attend.” Ella smiled, excited to see how grand the wedding would be.
Even Hazel and the others were excited.
They were getting married again.
For a couple, no matter how many times they were married, there was no problem.
As long as they could stand the hassle and the cost, it didn’t matter how many times they married.
They just treated it as an extra special celebration for the love of their lives.
As they were eating, Maximus noticed that Lux and his two grandsons, Silvan and Martin, were not present.
“Where is Lux, Silvan, and Martin?”
“Lux must be busy and didn’t have time to come,” Liam replied.
“As for Silvan and Martin, those two brats are all around the abyss.”
“Sometimes, it would take years before we could meet them.”
“Those brats!” Hearing this, Nathan muttered in dissatisfaction.
It was already the family gathering, yet his two sons didn’t even have time to look for their mother and father.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but look at Zoe, planning to have another child.
‘Hmph, we don’t need those brats; we can create another one.’he thought
“Nathan~” Zoe blushed, seeing the meaning in his eyes.
Unfortunately, in their current state, it’s not so easy to give birth.
They already have three children, and at their current tier, having another one would be a miracle.
“Could you tell me about the abyss?” Maximus asked Liam.
“The abyss has become pretty chaotic these past few decades.”
“Chaotic? Isn’t it always chaotic?”
“No, the Etherium realm and the abyss are already in an all-out war.”
A few years after his father left, the Etherium Council decided to conquer the whole boundary layer.
Because of the arrival of tier 6 powerhouses from the Etherium realm, the living space in the abyss continues to dwindle.
An outpost can only do so much, not to mention it’s too expensive to build.
Wanting to have more people in the abyss and dig more resources.
The Etherium Council put out a crazy plan to conquer the Boundary Layer.
It has almost limitless space, filled with various resources.
Furthermore it was not like the chaotic sea, where one needed high-tier means to get resources.
In the abyss, where resources are scattered all around, one just needs a little digging.
With huge profits ahead of them, they launched a crazy war against the abyss.
“So, did they succeed?”
“Yes, just after a decade of resistance, the Boundary Layer was captured.”
Capturing the Boundary Layer and cleaning up all the high-tier monsters and dangers.
Those powerhouses built arrays all around to keep the abyss aura to a minimum.
After years of construction and millions and trillions of individuals working, the Boundary Layer was formally captured.
Now, the abyss aura around was so negligible that a mortal could survive with their bare body.
In the past, they could never dream of doing this.
After all, even if they had enough manpower and strength to do so, they didn’t have enough materials.
However, with Maximus’s help, getting the materials just needed some money.
Hearing this, Maximus nodded in understanding.
No wonder decades ago, Fealan bought various materials from him costing magic crystals worth hundreds of quintillions of dimensional coins.
“What about the Middle Layer and Purgatory Layer?”
“The Middle Layer was the crossroads of war between the two dimensions.”
“It was too chaotic that even some Apex Sovereigns died,” Liam said with a sigh.
Seeing that the Boundary Layer was conquered, how could the Abyss Monarchs let it be?
Unfortunately, with Malgron lurking around, they couldn’t get out of the core layer.
Their only choice was to send the subordinates they had cultivated to suppress these maggots from eroding the abyss.
Thus, the biggest battle since the Etherium realm faced the abyss began.
As for the Purgatory Layer, it became a forbidden ground.
It became the breeding ground for the abyss monsters who were fighting for war.
Only strongholds with hidden feutures, such as the Etherium Citadel, Shadow Hunter Stronghold, and Eternal Outpost, were capable of venturing the purgatory layer.
They were the hidden blade of the Etherium realm, ready to cause a fatal blow when needed.
All in all, the abyss was more chaotic than ever.
It was also the prelude that would open the world to higher dimensions for the time to come.