Divine Path System

Three days passed since the 'brother-in-law' settled in a luxurious manor.

Without a hint of shame, he extorted his rich neighbors with his background and used that money to go shopping with his wife, the sister of the legendary princess.

That much was still bearable and even expected. But it was unacceptable that he also started taking the silent 'disciple' of the princess on shopping!

His wife was already so beautiful that the most famous beauties of the capital started to avoid the public.

Now, the disciple whose face wasn't seen by anyone yet but from temperament alone must be a great beauty was also being involved with the same man!

Rumors soon spread that this married man was flirting with another woman right in front of his wife.

Soon, furious men and jealous women wrote to the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, calling it a degradation of morals and the collapse of ethics.

Upon the condition of anonymity, a male compatriot shared his views.

"Marrying Princess Isadora's sister is as close as one could get to marrying her Highness. This man was blessed with such great luck that he must've saved the kingdom in his previous life.

But look at him. He's flirting with another woman who happens to be the legendary princess' disciple!

Animal! Thinking with his lower body!

It's too much, okay?"

The reporter brushed a strand of her hair and asked with a smile. "What are your emotions regarding this issue?"

"Emotions? I'm so jealo—I mean, I'm so angry! Angry! Yes! I'm horrified by where we are going as a society and civilization! I don't want my kids to grow up in such a society!"

Crying bitter tears, the man walked into the pub, trying to break the streak of not scoring for three straight weeks.

"This is Reedsey, reporting from the 1A block, Siet district."

After the camera stopped, the team packed up and prepared to leave.

But as they were about to, the cameraman rubbed his eyes and pointed to a three-person group.

"They…look familiar?"

"Who? Oops!" The lady reporter was taken aback before running to the man like a cheetah. "Sir! Can I please have your autograph?"

But before she could get within ten-foot distance, the veiled woman accompanying the man turned to her and narrowed her eyes.

Those sky-blue eyes glowed with a dangerous light and the reporter collapsed onto her knees. Due to the sheer speed, she slid on her knees to the trio on the smooth road.

Even though she didn't mean it, it was a smooth slide.

Varian started clapping before he knew it and reached for his wallet.

"…Don't disturb my date." Sarah's cold voice scared caused the woman to run backward.

The cameraman, a bit too professional for his own good, captured the whole sequence and uploaded it with no editing.

Varian's fame exploded, earning the title "Kingdom's Brother-in-law".

*** *** *** *** ***

"And I want that composite material, that rare one too. Oh, and this is an ore from a rank 9 chaos beast? Pack it as well."

Treating money like dirt, Varian spent another day shopping lavishly.

But once they returned to the manor, he picked a few items from the rest and started experimenting with them.

Sarah and Enigma helped him where they could. Other times, they gave him his own space to focus.

Unlike the world blinded by his eye-grabbing actions, they knew what he was actually up to.

Using all the resources at his hand, Varian was trying to accelerate his mastery of creating a Prime World.

Some specific resources, particularly rare ores, proved helpful in the endeavor. But he could not buy them without raising suspicion.

So, he started buying a lot of things—paintings, sculptures, ancient beast skeletons. Against that backdrop, the otherwise suspicious purchase of very resilient ores would turn into another shopping spree for collectibles for an ultra-rich man.

"Three weeks. Three more weeks. It's too late!"

Soaked in sweat while bleeding from his eyes and mouth, Varian staggered out of the training room.

He took three steps before he collapsed. But the same routine continued for the next three days.

The hype and excitement regarding the <Kingdom's Brother-in-Law> began to subside. So, he had to make another tour.

This time, he toured the royal district with Enigma. A trade house was said to have recently mined an ultra-rare mineral.

The auction went as expected. Varian used the name of his sister-in-law without any shame and successfully extorted enough money for the purchase.

As he was returning from the auction house, however, he was confronted by a familiar young man.

A tall and thin guy, with skin that resembled the sand of a scorching desert.

Prince Robert Xayn Kyses.

"So it's you." The man wasn't pleased in the slightest. "The spineless bastard using his relative's name to delude himself and the world that he isn't an insignificant bug."

The group of two men and three women accompanying the prince quietly stepped back, drawing a distance from him and his words.

Not noticing this change, Robert continued. "You won the auction from stolen money. Otherwise, I would have taken that item for my sword. I suggest you present it to me if you don't want me to turn hostile."

Varian tilted his neck and glanced at the prince from head to toe. An amused look flashed in his eyes, like he was watching a clown show.

"What the fuck is your problem? Can't you understand words?" Robert's aura soared.

Varian didn't even bother to raise his aura in response and simply summoned Requiem.

The red-bladed black-handled sword glowed in his hand, the aura coming out of it resembled flames that lit up the prince's pale face and trembling lips.

"Y-You…" Robert's voice cracked and the corner of his eyes turned red. Blood started to leak out his lips and his entire body began to tremble. "T-Telor Xon Na—"

"Varian. I am Varian." Saying those words, the Brother-in-Law swung his sword, slicing one of Robert's arms.

The onlookers, all men and women of extremely high standing in the kingdom, froze in their spots at the blatant courage to do such a dangerous thing.

Not caring about their whispers, the young man and his wife swaggered away.

Unable to bear the piercing gazes, Prince Robert didn't even grab his severed arm and sprinted back to his mansion.

"Prince! Please open the door!"

"We brought a herb to improve your vitality!"

"Your health isn't good. Losing an arm at a time like this would only slow down your recovery."

The prince ignored the servants taking care of him. And when the few friends he had came to visit, he refused to see them as well. Two more days passed and the prince remained in self-imposed lockdown.

On the third day, he disappeared. No one knew where he went. But that day, a prime world far from the capital received a guest.

Resembling 'Heaven' from a few myths, it's a world built on top of pure white clouds, with golden stairs leading to the gate beyond which the master of the world resided.

It's a world where only a few were allowed to even step in. Even fewer were able to cross the golden stairs. Only a limited number of those manage to get past the gate every year.

Apparently, the gate wasn't dependent on strength. It was purely a test of the will.

By the end of the third day, a bloodied figure with broken bones and torn muscles, barely even in a humanoid shape anymore, managed to open the gates and crawl in.

"Martial Saint!

That man is my mortal enemy, the demon I must slay!

I beg you, please give me the power to take revenge!

No matter how risky, no matter how difficult, I must kill him. Else my life, no matter how long, would be an unending nightmare."

A golden beam fell from the sky and the wriggling mass of flesh and bones turned back into the tall and healthy Prince Robert in a blink.

A silhouette shrouded in golden light appeared in the sky, looking down at the determined prince.

Even at that moment, in that figure's palm was a grain—the same grain that's infused with Isadora's aura.

Strands of golden power were circling around the grain, examining the grain with greater detail with every cycle.

"Will you stand by your words?" The powerful voice made those words sound like the command of a living god.

"With every single fiber of my being! I just want revenge!"

"Very well." Martial Saint Kong seemed to be pleased but Robert had no way of knowing the expression of a face covered in golden light.

A single drop of dazzling purple liquid fell from the sky.

"The blood of a creature that failed divinity. It's also a Devourer. I've spent many centuries refining it to the current state."

"I-I can devour it to increase my rank?"

"Even though it lost most of its power, you'll die if you try that."

"Then what do I…"

"I'll help you assimilate. But even then, you would not live longer than five hundred years unless you reach the divine rank."

Robert lowered his head.

He knew his chances of achieving that feat were next to none. But it's not zero.

However, taking revenge on the guy became his mental demon in his current state? There's zero chance of that.

This man had a background so extraordinary that even the Academy, which must've realized his true identity by now, was unwilling to make any moves. If he had to ever take revenge, he had to do it with his own hands.

"I'm willing to take the chance, as long as the rate of failure isn't 100%."

For a moment, the golden light on the man's face scattered away and his lips curled up.

"Good boy."