1006 A Hero

Varian, like many earthlings, grew up hearing the horror stories of the Demon King. A being of unfathomable power, only held back by the Sovereign of Earth, was the nightmare of his childhood.

Sometimes, the horror stories went a bit too far and spoke of a future where the Demon King won. It was a grim future where even the last sparks of hope died out.

It wasn't originally a children's story. It was a cautionary tale for the adults that emerged shortly after the abyssal invasion—warning them of the fragility of their planet, race, and civilization.

Oddly enough, this horror tale that even adults avoided was Varian's favorite childhood tale.

The stark contrast his life gave compared to the grim tale offered made him appreciate the greatness of peace and the duty of people that built that peace, including his father.

His late father and Demon King were the most important reasons Varian turned out the way he did.

"It's futile." Demon King's voice rang out as he treated Evander like a punching back. "You're all too weak. Call Julius."

"If we could find it, we'd have long found him." Varian appeared from behind and threw a roundhouse kick at the abyssal's waist.

A bone-cracking sound before Varian was blasted back.

The gnawing pain from his leg threatened to engulf his consciousness, but Varian held on and delivered his long-range attacks.

The first damaged arm was now getting back into shape. But it's still a bit away from enough recovery.

'Varian, stop this madness. Let's retreat.' Enigma's cold voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

Since Sia could freely touch him, Enigma let her take over most of the time and spend time with Varian. Since Sia could also now use darkness power, Enigma didn't even appear during battles.

But she unexpectedly appeared at this critical moment.

Varian's gaze didn't shift but his space sense already found the woman in black.

Sarah fired a few shots into the sky, indicating she wanted to do the same.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The space shook as explosions occurred all over the region. The two figures continued to move at high speeds as they continued their fight, albeit one was quickly growing more injured.

At this rate, even Evander would fall sooner or later. Once he did, they'd be sitting ducks for Demon King.

It's only logical to retreat at this point. It'd also give room for Evander to retreat.

Varian thought hard and was about to say yes when he glanced at the blue planet from the corner of his eye.

Even though he always said he prioritized his life over others' and firmly stated that he wasn't a hero, at that moment, Varian realized that a part of him always tried to be one.

'…I have to do something.'

Varian glanced at his status screen and took a deep breath. 'Let the madness continue.'

He attacked again and was beaten back again, this time, his second leg was the victim.

With four limbs injured and bleeding, Varian looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.

Enigma appeared beside him and grabbed his shoulder. "End this madness!"

Varian teleported away from her and said. "No. I have a chance."

He teleported to the Abyss King and punched with his right hand—which was also the first injured and now recovered.

Demon King resounded in kind and broke his arm again. But Varian didn't give up, he kept attacking despite being injured every single time.

It's as if he didn't know the meaning of giving up.

The results didn't seem to change as he's blown back every single time. Not even once did he manage to withstand any attack without breaking his bones.

But only Varian was acutely aware of the ridiculous changes occurring in his body.

Demon King was the Sovereign of body path and his chi was the perfect recipe for Varian.

As they fought continuously, Varian's progress in body path skyrocketed.

From the mid stages of high level 9, it crossed the peak of level 9 and now raced towards the very edge of the level.

His plantae path was only slightly slower. As a result, Varian's recovery sped up to an insane rate.

Now, even a completely broken arm was functional in a minute and allowed Varian to fight the Demon King far more frequently.

That's the only thing that changed for the onlookers on Earth. Varian was still beaten back with the same intensity and had the same injuries every single time.

What they didn't observe was that Varian kept decreasing his physical strength with each attack. Yet, he got the same injuries. Then, slowly, even those injuries started to decrease.

Even his other paths began to bloom under this gruesome combat.

In the past, Varian fought Enigma when she was stronger than him to achieve quick growth. But he often ended up in bottlenecks and ended up actually delaying his progress.

He understood the reason for these bottlenecks long ago.

In a test match, no matter how much he tried to simulate the hostile environment, Enigma ultimately wasn't going to kill him.

That assurance would always remain in the corner of his mind, preventing him from pushing himself to his limits and beyond.

That feeling was completely absent in real battles and allowed Varian to grow at a much faster pace and with little to no bottlenecks.

Demon King continued to exchange blows with Evander when Varian appeared behind him with a sword.

"Finally, I got you!" Demon King kicked away Evander and punched back in a blink.

Varian was caught off guard and raised his arms. A light layer and darkness veil covered his arms at the last minute and improved his defense.

Yet, the Abyss ruler's punch broke through his arms and struck his head.

Varian's skull cracked and he felt his consciousness grow dark.

The next punch followed. If it hit his head, he'd be done for. Varian used the last bits of his consciousness and accelerated the time flow of his body. Under that higher speed, he teleported.

Even then, Demon King missed Varian by just a hair's breadth.

When Varian teleported beside Sarah, the shockwave from the punch exploded over his head, causing more injuries to his already damaged skull.

Sarah grabbed his arm as she continued to pour all her attacks while Enigma grabbed his other arm with an enraged expression.

"Father, withdraw! We can't win!" Sarah shouted as they entered the ghost ship.

Evander heard her words and his eyes flashed with confusion.

His whole body was full of so many injuries that he was bathed in his own blood. His mind had long stopped working 'normally' and whatever he's fighting now, he's doing it purely relying on instinct.

So, his broken head with heaven knows how many concussions took time to process Sarah's words. When it did, he shook his head resolutely. "N-Never. I…I'd rather die here."

Evander started burning his vitality recklessly and continued his fight.

For so long, he tried to keep the backlash under control since Varian said they had a chance.

But since there's no chance of winning anymore, Evander decided to inflict as many injuries on Demon King before his death.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosions continued.

In the spaceship, Varian who was held by Sarah and Enigma gripped their hands and launched synergy.