Divine Path System

"You didn't do anything stupid until now. So you won't be killed." The voice was directed at the envoys.

And then the pair of wings turned to the single loyalist who accompanied them, to a young nymph who recently turned 25.

It's been more than fifty years since humanity away from this Paradise. The nymphs were originally a highly selective race that mated only with the best of the best.

With only a few hundred of them left, they were on the verge of extinction when they were about to leave and begged him.

While they did not recieve a chance to be a concubine or even just bear his child as their ancestors and their ancestor's ancestors hoped, they did recieve a solution to the problem.

Akin to a world tree that could bear elves without a mate, the nymphs recieved a different flower each. If they cared for the flower, nurtured it well and willed for it, it would eventually bear a child.

The flowers could even birth more flowers, given enough time and resources.

The Nymphs that were on the verge of extinction were saved. And in just fifty years, they bounced back from a pitiful 500 to an astonishing 50,000.

It was a story that could go down in the history of eden races. It's extremely rare for a race so close to extinction to bounce back. And bounce back so well.

Of course, the rate of growth would slow down once the numbers grew large. It wasn't enough to just bear children, they also had to be raised well.

And Nymphs, for all their faults, were excellent mothers. It's in their very nature to care and nurture.

Given a century or two, they'd be in a few millions. And a few more centuries, they'd be able to cross a billion.

A billion wasn't a big number for any race. It wouldn't even make them comparable to some races that dominated provinces.

But the difference laid out in the fact that as formers Hortians, their average rank was far higher than any other race outside.

If raised properly, then this one billion would a terrible force to reckon with. Perhaps no kindom in the empire would be willing or even able to confront the monstrous army.

Thankfully for them, Nymphs didn't were a warring race.

"Chloe!" The pair of wings called out in a soft voice, completely different from the solemn tone used for the envoys.

The nymph who was maintaing a proper posture for a guest blinked in surprise and then looked up in amazement.

"O-Oob uncle? When you have grown so big? You're like a roc!"

"Uncle? Who is the uncle!" The wings shrank to a handful size and hovered over Chloe's head, flapping around her in reproachment.

"You are the uncl—ouch!" Chloe pointed out plainly and Oob knocked her lightly on the head.

"A brat, always a brat! Hmph!" Oob folded its wings in front of Chloe and seemed to pout.

Chloe smiled brightly, the nervousness on her face melting away. "What happened to launching the Lord's logo with your symbol? And the caption, Fly with the wings—all the way to Paradise."

"Ahem, ahem, ahem." Oob folded its wings and coughed.

"Yes?" Chloe tilted her head, a curious look in her eyes.

"T-That is…Hahaha, that is…" Oob tried to find an answer and in trying to do so, glared at the half-curious, half-shocked envoys. They froze in shock and stepped back. Why? Why not?

"The l-logo of L-Lord is…"

"Hm, what happened?" Chloe insisted.

"I'll tell you what happened!" A cute ghost appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey, Boo, shut u—mmff!" The wings was punched back from interrupting by the excited ghost.

"Oob was too excited that day and bragged about the wings coming to represent the Lord's legacy. That much was fine. But then Oob also praised how Hazel was the closest to lord with her wings, she'd be assciated by everyone in the future as his closest associate."

As Boo finished its gossip in high pitch, Oob's wings faltered and curled itself.

"Errr," Chloe was young, naive and a little too sympathetic. But she was still an adult. "Those final words, you really shouldn't hav—"

Oob unfurled its wings and shouted in frustration. "I know, I know! And I was even stupid to say that while Lady Sia was present."

Chloe gave him a sympathetic look while Boo burst into a fit of laughter. "You deserved it! You totally deserved it."

"I did." Oob sighed powerlessly, wings floating with the wind. "She plucked my wings that day and replaced them with chicken wings. Only after he intervened did she let me go. And that was a month later."

Chloe covered her mouth, trying to suppress the chuckle that threatened to break out. She really wanted to see the ever active Oob waving its chicken wings.

Even though she knew it was a bit impolite, she couldn't help but ask. "W-Were they live wings or f-fried wings?"

"Ahahahahaha!" Boo clutched its stomach and rolled in the air while Oob froze as if shocked at the possibility.

"Boo will tell her next time. It's a great idea! Chloe, you are really the best!"

Chloe smiled cutely at the praise.

Her childhood had great days with these two visiting the Nymph city regularly. In their own words, it was a 'We're not here for sight seeting, we're purely to check on your condition, yep, that's right'.

What Chloe didn't know was that with Varian missing for fifty years, Hortus was closed off. But when Primula and Aurora were captured, Boo and Oob would go out to check clues.

They didn't know it was Asherah who kidnapped her. So, they kept searching and searching.

The two in fact braved many dangers in their adventures and came out on top. During these dangerous times, they would visit the settlements of the loyalists, checking on them. It was both a duty and a relief.

Chloe was one of the many children they had watched grown up. And they really liked the girl too.

Perhaps that's why she's sent here as the representative of the loyalist faction even though there were far more humans and elves than the fifty thousand nymphs.

"Um, O-Oob Uncle, can we mee—"

"Hey." Oob suddenly turned in the direction of the young man, wings turning crimson. "Who is your uncle? If you try that once more, I'll throw you to a metal serpents. They have a thing for cutting their food into pieces before digesting."

The jovial atmosphere suddenly turned tense.

Boo's voice too turned cold and unwelcoming. "So what are you here for anyway? If it's just sight seeing, you've seen enough."

Chloe fidgeted as she never saw them so cold. "I-I…brought them here."

"Why?" Oob asked softly, but its voice was still strained.

Chloe took a deep breath and said with a resolute gaze. "T-They are all being killed. All over the empire! Every Hortian is being hunted down. P-Please save them! I…I b-beg the lord to save them."

"Chloe," Oob said softly. "Your people, the Nymphs, the lightning elves, the final human faction, all you loyalists will face no harm during such calamities. Master would not intervene but we are enough to protect you."

Boo nodded with composure. Their adventures pushed Boo's soul to a higher rank, making it some sort of a big boss in celestial ranks. Not as strong as Oob, but it's still a formidable opponent for these kingdoms.

What's more, Boo's physical body removed the biggest weakness soul awakeners typically face—physical defense.

Even though the material it built itself was scraps that Sarah discarded from her training room, what she considered scraps were something even low rank 1s would find hard to break.

In that sense, while Boo was weaker than Oob in offense, its ability to protect was way higher.

"W-We're asking for help. Please save us." A brown-haired man bowed deeply and pleaded in a steady voice.

"We can't save you." Oob said coldly. "We don't want to. And even if wanted to, we simply don't have the capability to affect the entire empire."

The petite woman next to him bowed quickly. "W-We plead for the Emperor's mercy."

A moment of silence passed before Oob chuckled. Boo joined.

Since they didn't bother to change their voices, their sounds were cute. But neither the brown-haired man nor the pink-haired woman or any of the envoys felt glad.

It was a mocking laughter, one that came without trying.

"Emperor?" Boo finally said, its small face contorting. "The day the empire vanished, so did the emperor. There is no emperor anymore."

The two envoys panicked and turned to others for help.

The purple haired woman took a deep breath and said in a pleading tone. "Lord Boo, Lord Oob, we understand why you hate us. Rightfully so. We too regret what happened. Our parents are the same and even their parents too.

But somethings are simply not meant to be. We will regret what we have done. Hortus will remain an unreachable Paradise for us. It is already turning into a fabled myth, my people believe it's the destination for those who die after doing good deeds."

"What are you trying to say?" Boo asked, frowning.

"This is our only chance of survival. We will be slaughtered or enslaved if He doesn't help us. If that's what He wills, we will bow our heads and accept our fate. But whether life or death, let us hear the words from him.

If he doesn't help, this will be the last time we'll see him anyway.

If he does want to help, then all the more reason we should see him."

Oob looked at the woman deeply for a long time and the woman lowered her head, silent and still. She was nervous but she certainly wasn't scared.

"You were prepared for death since the beginning, huh." Oob finally said. "So you gave your best shot anyway. I still don't want to take you but girl, you know what you are doing. I'll request an audience."

The woman's shoulders relaxed and she sighed in relief.

Perhaps they had a chance. Perhaps.

"But be warned, Master is in the middle of a very, very important task. He might decline my request right away." Oob said.

The hope that just rose in Athena's heart shattered and she rebuked herself for having any hope in the first place.

Hope in the face of inevitable only prolonged suffering when reality eventually strikes.

Oob's wings shone and it whispered something softly to the air.

The six envoys remained silent, not even daring to breathe. Chloe bit her lip, looking at them with an anxious gaze.

Oob sighed.

That sigh nearly caused their hearts to break.

"A short meeting is granted."

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