1028 Torture
Varian opened his eyes and sighed.
In the vibrant cities, beautiful forests, and serene rivers, there was a horrifying silence.
The cities, more or less, remained intact. But they had no abyssals inside them. Not even their clothes were left behind. It was as if all the abyssals just vanished.
But their traces remained. In some places where the killing hadn't been complete, there were body parts scattered around. And in many, many places, there was blood pooling into lakes.
And then there were a few…survivors. These were the high awakeners. Even though Varian's all-encompassing light beam was strong, it was spread too much and wasn't able to end them.
However, the survivors didn't exceed even 100,000. They made no attempt to escape or even retaliation.
On the mountains, on the roofs, on the tree tops, they stood, just as they had been standing before the light beam engulfed the world. And they continued standing as they stared blankly at the world around them.
"W…What have you done?" An older abyssal said in a muffled sob. "Billions…gone."
The high awakeners scattered all across the world dropped like dried leaves and helplessly stared at the figure in the sky.
Everyone and everything they loved was erased under his wrath. But what could they do now? There was hatred. But it couldn't survive the helplessness that flooded their hearts.
After rejecting all the attempts of diplomacy from mankind, after committing all sorts of cruelty and justifying it by vilifying humans, and after destroying countless lives, these high awakeners finally exhaled in resignation.
And then they finally had the time to introspect.
"We were wrong."
The answer was easy to spot after the righteousness covering their eyes was lifted.
"To live, we are killing them. We are no different from the Zions and fairies."
They were able to see it clearly now. Perhaps the abyssals always knew. But they were reluctant to admit it.
"Wrong you are." Varian's voice came from the sky, like the oracle of the divine. "After everything you've done, there's no possibility of peace between our races. Even if you're feeling sorry now, there's only one way out of this for you."
Concentrated light beams began to rain down from the sky and envelop the level 7s. They didn't resist. They had no will. No hope. No reason.
Soon, the level 7s were reduced to bone dust. Then the level 8s and finally the level 9s.
Varian stumbled back as he pressed his forehead. His face was too pale and his body was sweating, shaking, and almost spasming.
He might've reached the strength of a Sovereign through the combination of his powers. But even a Sovereign would find it hard-pressed to erase life from an entire abyss.
It's an insane feat.
The only reason Varian even pulled it off was thanks to the appropriate use of the powers. Mainly, the two mind powers.
His psychic power helped find the abyssals and prevented his attacks from being wasted in the wilderness. His telekinetic power actually narrowed down his attacks and ensured they struck the abyssals and not the things around them.
No other Sovereign could even dream of this. So, such a feat would remain his own for eternity.
"D…Die!" Thunder King who finally recovered a bit poured out his lightning mana and slapped it at Varian.
It was very weak for a Sovereign. But Thunder King's condition was that bad. Varian wasn't in a state to defend against even that attack. However, he wasn't worried.
A white light enveloped him at the last moment and repelled the lightning.
"You! You bitches!" Thunder King's face distorted into a mix of rage and helplessness.
Sarah, who appeared behind Varian at some point, glanced at him coldly and waved her hand. A net weaved out of different colors of light enveloped Thunder King.
His flesh sizzled as the light dug into him and almost roasted him alive. Thunder King's screams filled the air and Sarah's expression eased.
Varian smiled at her and the three flew down to the Thunder Palace.
It was a giant structure that was built of thunderstone, an excellent conductor of lightning mana.
They walked in, ignoring the corpses littered all around, and reached the underground floor.
"N-No! That is…that is no—arghhh!" Thunder King's eyes turned scarlet as he stared at the altar in the room as if it was his own child.
"You never broke them, did you? It's pretty fun." Varian said lightly.
"If this scum can cry tears of blood, why not?" Sarah tried to chuckle, but it came out as a cold and stiff smile. Her mind still lingered on the horrors of Neptune.
Sarah put her palm on the altar and glared down at Thunder King. She thought of saying something to break this bastard down. Something that'd pain him before he eventually died.
As if sensing her thoughts, Varian's voice rang in her mind and Sarah opened her mouth with confidence. "You had many chances to kill Varian. You wasted them all."
Thunder King's withered body suddenly stiffened and he looked at her with confusion.
"A few months ago, we teleported from Pluto to Thunder Abyss. You chased after the ghost ship and Sovereign Ares stopped you before you got us. You were just a few miles away from us." Sarah's voice was soft but every word she uttered stabbed the crippled abyssal ruler like a dagger.
It pushed him to depths of sadness and despair he didn't think was possible.
"N-No! Stop! I…" Every fiber in his body was taut and he spasmed from the pain, but Thunder King endured it and shouted even as his throat was flooded with blood.
Sarah didn't. "Had you risked your life when Varian first returned, you could've killed him. You didn't dare to risk your life. Maybe you would've died if you risked your life. But what changed now? You're still dying."
Sarah's hands shone and the altar cracked.
Thunder King's mind crashed as his body twitched, life leaving him faster and faster.
"The death of your people, your own demise, and even the destruction of this altar, it's all on you."
With unimaginable agony in his eyes, Thunder King died a painful death.
