Varian sat on the lush green grass, still wet with the morning dew.

It was a a clearing on the side of a quiet lake behind cloudy hills.

Every blade of grass, every petal of flower, every tree, every plant—it was so breathtaking that Varian wondered if he was soiling the perfection of this place by stepping into the scenery.

"Just so you know, I don't think you'll have a good future if I fail here. Instead of staying silent like you were for the past week, I am expecting to help me out however you can atleast now."

[…]

"Logos." Varian's voice turned stern. "It's a minimum curtesy to reply when you're spoken to."

[Haaa~] An exhausted sigh sounded in his mind in the original soft voice that was usually masked by a mechanical sound.

[The situation is not dangerous.]

"Are you mad? I barely have time to catch up with him eve after all this." Varian wanted to slap the idiot.

The timeflow was adjusted to nearly 1500.

So, everyday outside would mean nearly 4 years would pass here. It sounded great but how many days did he really have when two high rank 2s were searching?

No matter how unique Hortus was and how hard Oob tried, it's just a matter of time.

Ten days? Too optimistic.

One day? Too pessimistic.

But four days or six days? Most likely.

So, he'd likely get 16-24 years to make the progress Immortal made in 1,000 years.

Extrapolating the progress he made in the past 60 days, he could confidently say it's not going to happen.

He needed help. His wives did their best already and couldn't assist him anymore.

As the only one who could help him out in this situation, Logos' silence was simply maddening.

[Even if you fail, they can sacrifice the population of Hortus and shield you for 10 years. You'll get 10,000 years. That's more than enough time.

You're in no danger of actually dying. So, the System sees no need for intervention.

…Every infraction by the system would result in a bigger backlash.]

Varian narrowed his eyes and held his breath. Anger bubbled in his chest and his heart cooled down.

Logos would rather kill everyone than make an infraction?

"You have no idea how pissed off that answer makes me."

[The System doesn't have as much of a choice as you'd like to believe. We're all in shackles, Host. My chains are just something you cannot see.

Now that you've come this far, I can temporarily grant you some power, but the consequences would be devastating.

You'll be rendered powerless for a critical period of time.

Would you believe if I told you that my action now might result in death of someone close to you?

But most likely, it would result in your death under the hands of someone that wouldn't otherwise kill you.

I would've helped you if I didn't know. But I do. And I cannot bring myself to do it.]

Varian wasn't sure if he was right but he could hear a mix of fear and tension from Logos' voice.

What could make even the slivers afraid?

'Or who?'

Varian exhaled deeply and decided to leave the matter behind. If help wasn't coming no matter what, he'd have to make do with what's available.

[But I will guide you as much as I can in wielding the powers. I was going do that anyway, whether this talk happened or not.]

"…Okay."

Varian would've dismissed Logos' talk as some poor excuse in the past.

But after catching a glimpse of the God Emperor, things like future and fate seemed much more real.

[Alright, the first thing to understand is the uniqueness of the paths. Unlike Sage which has soul and Creator which has gravity, there is no middle path in Ruler Avenue.

There is either Order or Chaos. Order can emerge from Chaos. Systems that look chaotic can be deterministic, a feature of Order…]

Varian's hands glowed in a dreamy black and white light. A pure power flowed out of him and spread out into the surroundings.

As his mind turned calm and his focus directed completely onto Order and Chaos, his proficiency began to increase at an unprecedented pace.

While the man worked hard for the upcoming battle, his women were also busy.

Sarah remained in the sky directly above the location where Varian resided. A blue beam of power flowed out of her and merged into the sky.

Combining her power with itself, Hortus manipulated the timeflow around Varian. Even if someone were to come and attack her now, Sarah wouldn't be able to respond. She had given the task at hand her complete attention.

Meanwhile, Isadora and Aurora were arranging rare materials across the cosmos into special arrays built from calculations of complex geometry, going as far as manipulating gravity for some positions.

"Senior Sister, I don't think brother-in-law will like this." Panting heavily as she carefully filled a rare metal with her life power, Miss Calamity said.

"Of course, he won't like it." Isadora rubbed the sweat off her forehead and bit her finger. Blood spilled out and using it, she drew a complex rune character at the center.

"But if I had to pick something, I would always have him alive and hate me than dead and love me." Isadora chuckled.

"For this ritual to proceed, you'd need his permission. He's the lord of Hortus after all. He wouldn't agree."

"He won't be able to do much in 20 years or 50 years. Extending the time is inevitable." Isadora looked at Aurora with a smile. "So, I'll give him a choice.

He can kill everyone or he can kill me. Even if he doesn't kill me, I'll kill myself."

Miss Calamity's hands froze and she looked up in surprise. "You're joking, right?"

Isadora's smile disappeared and she looked at Aurora with a determined expression. "You tell me, do I look like I'm joking? If he can't chose, I'll force him to choose. I don't mind if he's kind in normal times but if it comes to his life, I want him to be more ruthless than anyone else."

"…You're scary."

"I don't want this this situation either. But this is my only choice. I hope for a miracle. He's always been good at them."