1044 A Hopeless Fight

Varian's fist broke through the sea of golden starlight and reached the Abyss Emperor. But the abyssal's fist blurred and the space burst.

"Huh?" Varian's view spun as he felt his body nearly rip apart from the outside. His chest was burning and his entire body was spasming in pain.

The next thing he knew, he was flying off like he was a cannonball, albeit at a speed much faster than a sovereign's.

"I—"

Blood poured out of his mouth and only then did Varian realize that there was an abyssal fist-sized hole in his chest. The only reason he's even alive was that it's on the right side of his chest.

But that hole seemed to be drilled almost all the way to his back. It was as if someone literally pulled out a chunk of flesh from his chest, but stopped just short of the skin on his back. Varian's chest was hollow and he felt empty as the pain seared his nerves.

But the pain was almost instantly suppressed by the rush of adrenaline that overwhelmed his system and overcharged his heart.

Varian's instincts screamed danger and pushed for him to escape.  Without any delay, he channeled his space power. His body blurred and he appeared a thousand miles away.

The next second, a huge explosion occurred at his previous location and a blinding golden light spread out like a tsunami.

Piercing through that golden light, Haedon shot toward him at a speed far exceeding anything Varian could achieve.

Varian saw the bloodied fist of the Abyss Emperor and felt the cavity in his chest ache.

"Bastard!" Varian didn't even try to fight in close quarters and disappeared into the distance.

A psychic attack tried to drill into his brain and slow him down while the space around him tightened and even the time flow around his body slowed down. Then, invisible chains built from telekinetic power latched onto his arms and legs. Two swords built from lightning and ice swung at Abyss Emperor's neck.

Faced with the might of Varian's powers, the Abyss Emperor stagnated. But only for a split second.

"Varian, pay for your sins!" With a thundering roar that literally pushed the nearby asteroids away, Abyss Emperor moved.

Even with his current state, the psychic attack made no impact on his firm and experienced mind. His mind was firm like an iron wall.

The space around him still remained hard while his time flow ensured he was slower than he should be.

Despite these two slowdowns, he still moved at a speed significantly faster than any sovereign could.

The telekinetic chains snapped like they were made of cheap thread and the abyssal just swatted away the swords as if they were paper balls.

Like a menacing bull that broke all the obstacles, he raced toward Varian.

"Son of a…" Varian teleported away, his mind racing against time as he racked his brain for a solution to defeat this overpowered foe.

Varian was thankful that he was sleeping until now and only learned of Haedon after Evander battled him.

If he met Abyss Emperor instead of Julius first, he'd be dead. Even if he fought Haedon after Julius he'd still be head. For fuck's sake, even if he was fighting him after Evander drained him further, Varian still felt the breeze of death washing over him.

Haedon was already very, very weak compared to his prime. Yet, his power remained at a level Varian couldn't reach even with the best of his efforts.

Haedon charged forth like a mad bull, smashing asteroids left and right, exploding hundreds of miles into nothingness as he chased after Varian who continued to teleport away.

"If you never existed, everything would've gone smoothly." Haedon rushed to Varian standing on an asteroid.

When he was about to reach there, Varian teleported. He escaped again!

"You coward! If you shut up back then like you're doing now, everything would've been fine!" Haedon grabbed the metallic asteroid and literally broke it into two with his bare hands.

Pebbles, metal bits, and dust flew out under the might of the abyssal. The shockwave from that single snap was enough to end the life of a low level 9.

"How do I win this monster?" Varian gritted his teeth as he continued to retreat.

Every second felt like an hour. Every teleportation was a close call. Every successful escape was just a delay from clashing. If he failed once, even once, then he might be killed.

Under extreme pressure, Varian performed exceedingly well and continued to dodge the attacks of the Abyss Emperor for a total of six minutes.

The cavity in his chest closed up and Varian wanted to delay longer.

'If I can exhaust him by dragging him for an hour or two, then…'

Varian discarded that thought immediately after he noticed something.

Abyss Emperor's aura was…stabilizing.

It wasn't just him that was recovering from the injuries. He too was recovering. And from injuries far graver. Even though his recovery speed was much slower than Varian's, if Abyss Emperor recovered even 1% more of his power, it'd end this battle.

"Now!" Varian realized he had no choice and condensed his powers once again.

After the six minutes that felt like six hours, he attacked Abyss Emperor.

Just like before, his space, time, and telekinetic powers restricted Haedon while his psychic power attacked his mind.

But different from earlier, he received help as Sia and Sarah also joined him from as far as they could.

Sia's psychic power attacked Haedon along with his while her gravity power acted on Haedon's body. Then, a chain of darkness materialized and bound his right leg. Almost at the same time, a chain of light materialized and bound his left leg. The time flow around him twisted once again and he slowed down further.

Haedon's power still remained in the celestial rank. But he wasn't so invincible anymore. His power was now in the visible range, unlike before when they couldn't even judge his insane strength. But the bad news was that his power level was at the ceiling of what they could feel and observe.

"You…you little thieves, cowards who can't fight alone," Haedon spat in contempt as he stared at Varian and then shifted his gaze into the far space, exactly where Sia and Sarah stood inside the ghostship.

A wave of aura swept over them before a part of the thick killing intent locked on Varian reached them.

Even from afar, the two girls felt goosebumps being stared at by such a terrifying being. Sweat trickled down their foreheads and their faces paled visibly.

Their bodies trembled visibly and their hearts thrashed against their chest as their aura instinctively channeled itself in defense.

But more than what they faced,  Sarah and Sia together feared for Varian. If they faced this much pressure from such a large distance, what was Varian even feeling like?

Their lover's body shook as his aura grew violent but he pressed it down and clenched his fist. His fingers dug into his palm and blood splashed his fist.

Varian's body glowed with eight lights and he shot toward Haedon like a comet.

If there's a chance to defeat this monster, it's now.