Chapter 737: Mirage Abyss

Every planet in the solar system had an abyss corresponding to it.

Earth under Julius faced Demon Abyss.

Uranus under Irene faced Despair Abyss.

Neptune under Ares faced Thunder Abyss.

As their names implied, each abyss had its own characteristics. It's primarily defined by the divine path the abyssals of the abyss followed.

For instance, Demon Abyss was primarily composed of abyssals in body path. This abyss resembled earth, except that everything here was much sturdier.

Down from the most normal rocks to precious metals, the materials here seemed to be affected by the massive chi body awakeners use. If it was before Blink, even the most common metals of demon abyss would trump the best alloys of mankind.

In the same vein, Despair Abyss, being the home of plantae awakeners, was one big forest.

If humans tried hard, they could at least attack the Demon abyss.

But if they tried to enter Despair Abyss, they'd face the assault of a giant forest which is completely interconnected with a huge underground root network.

So, when under assault, the Despair Forest would behave like a hivemind and operate with such efficiency that it'd terrorize its enemies into lasting trauma.

Of course, Despair Forest wasn't invincible. Low and mid awakener abyssals can't stay in their plantae form all the time. However, they still lived in the forest.

In addition to them, Despair Abyss had hundreds of millions of plant monsters.

While Despair Abyss didn't possess fierce offensive power like that of Sin Abyss nor did it contain an explosive troop like Thunder Abyss, they were the best of the best when it came to defensive warfare.

Their invasion would only invoke despair and after repeated failed attempts, humanity changed the name of this abyss from Plant Abyss to Despair Abyss.

Like Demon Abyss and Despair Abyss, Mirage Abyss also had its specialty.

"Boo, watch out!"

As the ghost ship entered the Mirage Abyss and moved forward, three abyss spaceships appeared on the horizon and shot toward them.

So, Varian called out to warn Boo, only to realize Boo was frozen like a statue.

"Boo?" Varian stood up from his chair and rushed in front of Boo.

The little ghost's eyes were blank as it stared ahead like it saw something unbelievable.

"J-Jai Empire..."

"What?"

Varian frowned and looked at the radar.

The spaceships were just a few seconds away from them and from their trajectory, he was damn certain they were coming for him!

As if to prove his thoughts right, the spaceships began to emit blue light, and six beams of laser shot toward the ghost ship!

Varian didn't know how strong these attacks were, but he really didn't want to try.

"Boo!"

Boo was still silent.

Varian gnashed his teeth and glanced at Sia who stood up and prepared to fight.

He closed his eyes to gain control of the ghost ship and dodge the attacks.

But.

"Varian."

A voice reverberated in the sky.

The white clouds suddenly distorted and morphed into a figure.

Varian raised a brow at the figure but he was focused on controlling the ghost ship. The alien ship flipped in the air and dodged the laser beams.

But before Varian could sigh in relief, the figure in the clouds, or rather, the figure of the clouds, said.

"Holder of Order and Chaos Slivers."

A chill shot down Varian's spine and he gritted his teeth before moving ghost ship to attack the cloud figure.

If slivers got involved, even civilizations far higher than abyssals wouldn't survive, much less humans.

So, he had to know how this cloud bastard knew such things and ensure they don't spread.

As the ghost ship charged to toward the tall figure in the clouds, Varian realized something and held his breath.

It was an abyssal made from the silver clouds of the mirage abyss. He looked like an enlarged version of any other abyssal, except for one difference.

He had no marks on his face that the rest of the abyssals had to indicate their level. Even the abyss kings and queens had small, but well-defined tattoos on their foreheads to denote their ranks.

But he...

Varian only saw one such abyssal.

"Abyss Emperor..."

The ghost ship reached the silvery figure of the emperor.

And the one above all abyssals raised his hand.

The sky started to shake as if it was about to fall and the wind started to vibrate as an apocalyptic hurricane brewed.

"You are just lucky to get slivers. I am the one more worthy of wielding them." The Emperor's cold voice rang in his ears and the next second, the ghost ship exploded.

"No!"

With a yell, Varian gasped and found himself staring at the ceiling.

His clothes were soaked in sweat and he was tightly clenching the sofa. Sia was looking at him with a worried expression while Boo was operating the ghost ship through a hologram that showed they were moving out of the capital city.

...Moving out of the capital city.

Varian's restless mind suddenly settled down and everything fell into place.

He seated himself comfortably and looked at Sia with a wry smile. "So, I got pulled into an illusion after entering the capital?"

Sia nodded lightly. She could've intervened, but decided against it.

Varian told her that these 'attacks' helped him progress. So, she decided to stop the illusion only if it got dangerous.

Thankfully, Varian got out of it himself, but looking at his heavy breathing and sweaty forehead, he seemed to have experienced something frightening.

"Sia, T-Thanks," Varian said.

As the final effects of the illusion began to fade away, Varian recalled everything.

Mirage Abyss—the abyss where the mind path was predominant had its own specialty.

Illusions.

Since they decided to stall Mirage Queen for a few days, they decided to survey the capital of Mirage Abyss.

But the whole capital was covered by illusions due to some special treasure. Of course, Boo was capable of seeing through these illusions.

However, the fabled treasure wasn't completely ineffective. Boo would have to verify the reality from illusion each time it moved.

This would greatly affect their movement speed.

There's another problem.

Since Mirage Queen was a psychic, her mind sense would be covering the entire capital.

Compared to any other abyss king or queen, Mirage Queen would be the hardest for Boo to sneak under.

Add to that the necessity to constantly check reality from illusion, and their mission would be greatly hindered.

So, Varian thought of another solution.

If he could also see through the illusions and view the city, then he could share his view with Boo through their connection and help Boo.

That way, their speed won't be affected.

...At least, that was the plan.

Taking deep breaths, Varian looked out of the ghost ship.

Even though they were flying in the silver clouds, with his superhuman eyesight, Varian should've had no problem seeing the ground clearly.

But all he saw were wild scenes out of place.

A dance party, a gladiator match, a lovemaking session, and more.

Illusions after illusions clouded his sight.

So, he used another method. He weaved his mind sense into a thread and spread it down the ghost ship.

He easily broke through the initial illusions and his mind sense reached the next layer of harder and more complex illusions.

Then the next layer.

And the next.

Until he found himself staring at the abyss emperor again.

No matter how hard his mind sense tried, it couldn't break this illusion.

If Varian tried to forcibly penetrate his mind sense through the illusion to view the city below, he'd be caught up in the illusion.

...That's what happened earlier.

"Varian, once we get out of the capital, it'll be fine." Looking at Varian's furrowed brows, Sia consoled.

The level of illusions ranged from location to location.

Even if it was a city ruled by an archduke, Varian was able to view the city despite struggling to do so.

But the capital city was a different beast altogether.

From Sia's experience, unless you were a peak level 8 or level 9 mind awakener, you had no chance of breaking through the illusions.

This illusion cover served as an excellent defensive tool and showcased that abyssals were once a higher civilization.

Varian took a breath and shook his head.

He had a feeling that he'd be able to see through the illusions and view the capital once he reached level 8.

"Boo, keep hovering above the capital." Varian gave the order and smiled.

To others, the illusion cover was a problem.

To him, it was both a problem to solve and a treasure chest to crack.

Varian's mind sense forcibly penetrated an illusion and the next second, his eyes went blank as he was pulled into an illusion.