Chapter 322: Varian, It's All Your Responsibility!
Humans had a strange trait.
They adapted.
They adapted too fast. To both good and bad things.
They'd take the great things they were having for granted.
Even though it helped them as a species, the trait was responsible for them neglecting many precious things.
For instance, peace and a white moon.
After 300 YAB, Dungeons appeared everywhere.
At first, humans panicked, but soon, they were using dungeons to their advantage.
Technology also skyrocketed during this period.
The levels of awakeners rose rapidly. Exploration of Ruins accelerated.
And...humans found out the ruins on the other planets.
After they passed a certain level in the ruins, the ruins gave off a blinding light and the entire planet it was based on shook.
Then before they knew it...the planets, no matter how hostile to life they were before, became habitable.
It was god-like and defied every common sense.
This miracle was attributed to Devas and from then, they went from an ancient civilization before humans to ancient divinities that lived before us.
The Solar Colonization then began in earnest and earthlings spread all over the solar system.
Soon, scientists made enough progress to use the special treasures found in ruins and made Earth's moon habitable.
The moon was soon home to a hundred million humans.
"And your great grand mother were one of them. Of course, you might have heard of her title 'Selene'." Evander said with a smile as he gently stroked Sarah's head.
"Hmm." Sarah closed her eyes and nodded with a smile. She missed this. Missed her father.
Missed the person who brought her up. He was her hero.
Now she just wanted to feel the warmth of his gentle hands. But she couldn't help but ask.
"Great grand mother Selene? I thought she was just a legend." Sarah muttered.
"Some things were exaggerated, but it's her. She lost her family when Abyssals attacked the moon.
She escaped to earth and grew stronger. To be honest, those days were the darkest humanity ever experienced.
But she fought a stronger enemy and never wavered. She was a little girl when the war started, but when it ended, she was already a woman in her 30s." Evander sighed deeply.
"Wow." Sarah opened her mouth in surprise. After all, the latest war in her mind was Pluto War—it didn't even last for a month.
"Hahaha." Evander couldn't help but laugh at her dumbfounded appearance, causing Sarah to snort.
She must have looked like a child. "I...I was just surprised."
"Yes, yes."
"Father! I thought it's only Varian, now you too..." She stopped midway seeing Evander frowning.
"What about him?"
"...He too teases me like this. I really want to beat him up." Sarah said with an angry expression but the small smile on her face showed she wasn't angry at all.
Who was she trying to kid?
'...My daughter...my daughter is already...' Evander's eyes lost focus as he muttered like a broken record.
Evander felt like his heart was crushed to pieces.
This disciple!
Argggh!
My baby daughter!
She called me father just a few years ago!
I sent her to school only like yesterday!
She hasn't grown up yet!
No! This won't work!
I must save my daughter from this rascal disciple!
"Since he's troubling you, I'll ask him to stay away from you." Evander said with a serious face.
Yes. It's definitely for her. Not because he's worried that his daughter would go away.
After all, their relationship only mended right now and he didn't want to loose Sarah.
"No!" Sarah suddenly yelled, and after realizing her reaction, she blushed fiercely.
"I-I mean, he's not troubling me. I can talk to him freely without worrying what he will think of me and you know, unlike others, he didn't approach me to get closer to you or grandfather." Sarah recalled her first meeting with Varian and smirked.
"He was late to the opening ceremony and you fined all his merit points. I should've taken pictures of him...hehehe."
Evander clutched his heart as he saw that smile on Sarah's face. He knew it too well.
His wife, Syliva had the same smile when she talked about him.
'Gone. Gone. That bastard stole my daughter from me...I wanted to tell her a lot of stories, I wanted to recount her childhood days, the first time she called me father...'
Evander slumped on the couch and looked like a fish out of water.
He realized a truth.
Life had no meaning without your cute and innocent daughter.
"Father?" Sarah poked Evander's arm and asked. "Are you thinking about something important? Should I leave?"
"Ah, no, no." Evander quickly woke up from his stupor and shook his head. "You are more important to me than this work, daughter."
He added inside. 'Way, way, waaaaay more important than that stupid disciple.'
Sarah trembled at his direct words. How much she wished to hear that...
"I am glad I could speak to you like this." Sarah said in a low voice, her eyes reddening with each passing second.
She turned around, and with her back facing Evander, she said.
"I...I know you want to avenge mom and brother. But...you stopped talking me to altogether.
One month...two months...one year. I cried everyday. I would check my comm every hour to see if you messaged me.
I wasn't expecting anything big. Just...'How are you, Sarah?'
'Did you eat?' 'How is school?'
B-But I learned to live with that pain. I didn't speak as much, I didn't smile a lot, I somehow just wanted to hear something from you."
Evander looked at Sarah's trembling shoulders and felt like someone knocked the air out of his lungs.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out except.
"..S-Sorry."
"You should be!" Sarah wiped her tears and turned around.
She gave Evander a tissue who took with confusion. "Tissue...why?"
Evander felt the wetness on his cheeks and turned around.
He felt like burying himself in a hole right now.
He cried! A grown man cried! The fiercest general of the Solar System cried!
Evander Steelheart cried!
That too in front of his daughter!
'Arghhh! Varian, it's all your responsibility..' He threw it all on his poor disciple.