“W-What?” Blood splashed out of Julius’ mouth as he collapsed onto a knee.

The slate burst one of Julius’ lungs and the shrapnel struck his insides like nails hammered into a wall.

The pain was unbearable and his body spasmed violently. Even in his transformation form, he almost couldn’t bear it.

Julius’ power instinctively formed a defense and protected him from any further damage. The metal bits were all controlled with scary precision and expelled almost immediately.

But the damage was already done.

“Haaa…you sneaky coward.” Kneeling on a single knee, Julius sneered at Haedon who was now at the same level as him.

“I didn’t think,” The golden light around Haedon rose and he continued to gather his energy. The Abyss Emperor gave Julius a wry smile. “that I’d have to rely on that little treasure when I sent it to you.”

Even though he thought of the possibility, Julius nearly stumbled back upon hearing those words.

“You sent the slate?! You informed me about the six artifacts? The secret to becoming a celestial ranker?” Julius yelled in rage as those words injured his pride more than the sneaky explosion ever could.

Haedon slowly stood up and nodded weakly.

Julius’ injury wasn’t light. Now, they’re both terribly injured. If they fought, Haedon wasn’t sure of winning. But he was damn sure he could take down Julius with him.

That’s why Julius also changed from an offensive stance to a defensive one and continued the conversation than resuming the fight.

“You might’ve controlled that slate through another treasure,” Julius clenched his fists as blood slowly leaked out from his cracked skin. His insides still tingled as a missing lung continued to hurt badly. “It’s pathetic that you call yourself an Emperor and lie so shamelessly.”

“Don’t deny it,” Haedon took a deep breath feeling his recovery slightly speed up. “You got it in the fallen park of earth’s ruins, under the tree that never withers.”

Julius’ eyes widened and his heart thrashed against his chest. “You…”

“You didn’t find it,” Haedon declared. “I sent it to you through traitors of your own race.”

“Fucking traitors!” Julius’ fingers dug into his palms and blood splashed out like he just burst a ketchup bottle in his hand.

Haedon fixed his dislocated shoulders and retreated backward, preparing for any sudden attack.

“Even then, how did you know? Are you related to the devas? How did you even find us?” Julius stared hard at the abyssal emperor and asked in a hostile tone.

But there wasn’t any intent to fight. Julius also retreated back steadily.

Haedon was worried about Julius attacking him even if it meant his own death. But now it seemed he was worrying too much.

Haedon didn’t reply to the rapid questions.

He felt…disappointed by this human. The strongest human didn’t even know this much?

‘Was he just all talent and no brains?’ Haedon felt somewhat relieved too.

If Julius was a hardcore patriot, he’d be fighting him intensely and die with him without hesitation. Thankfully, Julius wasn’t such a person.

If Julius was a very clever man, he’d have already known the answers to the questions he posed. Then, he wouldn’t have kept the very suspicious plate around him.

Julius was talented but neither very clever nor very patriotic.

‘If it’s someone like Varian, it’d be very troublesome.’ Haedon suddenly remembered the young man’s name and his eyes flashed with vigilance.

If Varian escaped in the ghostship, he couldn’t catch up. Then, an enemy like Varian who already got benefits from devas and grows insanely fast would be a nightmare for the abyssals.

“Did you kill Varian?” Haedon asked even as he continued to retreat.

“What did you say?” Julius stopped in place and glared. A killing intent washed over the abyss emperor, telling him everything he needed to know.

‘Once I kill Julius, I should immediately kill Varian. He’s too dangerous to be left alive.’ Haedon decided.

p、A,nd A-n、o、ve,1

The chaotic space slowly grew peaceful and Haedon lied down on an asteroid. He needed a small break to recover. Julius must be doing the same.

But there’s a key difference between them.

Haedon would be recovering as a second-rank celestial while Julius would be recovering as a newbie celestial ranker.

Even if he only recovered 10% of his original strength, it’d still be higher than 80% of Julius’.

So, Haedon closed his eyes and sucked in the aura, focusing on his recovery.

On the other hand, Julius did exactly as Haedon predicted.

When taking in all the precious potions and medical herbs that didn’t aid in his recovery, Julius realized he could only spend the few herbs recently found in the ruins and mostly on himself.

The two put all their energy into recovering.

‘The next battle will decide everything.’

The sovereigns were only vaguely aware of this while the public remained uninformed. The news outlets continued to publish that the shining stars in space were the results of their Emperor’s power.

With every passing second, the critical moment began to draw closer.

At the thirty-minute mark, Evander reached Neptune without informing Varian or Sarah.

“Just in case…” He entered the teleportation formations and headed to Pluto.

Far away in the city of Eos, Varian was unaware of the unfolding chaos.

Just a while ago, he finished a long intimate session with his lovers and fell asleep. Sia and Sarah were also exhausted, showing no signs of waking up.

According to the instructions, Boo should’ve informed them about the situation. But Boo hesitated after noticing the scale of the fight.

‘Should Boo tell master?’ Boo paced back and forth outside the bedroom. The little ghost was debating itself since the fight began.

‘Even if the master goes, he can’t win. And he seems to be trying to advance…without much progress. If Julius loses, then Boo can simply take away master and leave. Even t-that scary abyssal won’t be able to find Boo.’ Boo crossed its small arms and nodded to itself in self-assurance.

‘That’s right, waking him up wouldn’t do anything good. Master might actually go and court death. This time, he might really die.’

While the little ghost decided to stay put, Varian frowned in sleep and started to sweat, as if he was having a very bad dream.

“Empe…” He groaned and his body grew stiff.

“Shhh,” Sia pulled his head into her bosom and he relaxed.

Sarah’s eyelashes fluttered and she rubbed her forehead. “What was that? A dream?”

A bad dream where she lost everyone. She watched the death of her father. Then Sia and Varian too were gone. Finally, darkness swallowed her.

Sarah couldn’t see the enemy. Nor could she do anything against that enemy. It was too powerful. Even the combined efforts of the three didn’t work.

“Must be Julius, he’s a big danger for us,” Sarah consoled herself and stretched her arms.

These scary dreams were common for her. It usually happened when she’s sleeping alone.

‘But I’m not alone…’

Sarah quickly realized the lack of warmth on her skin and realized that Sia pulled Varian away from her.

“Hmph, competing even in sleep?” Sarah pursed her lips and hugged Varian from behind.

While the three remained oblivious, the battle that’d decide the fate of humanity was about to begin.

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