1046 Judgement
Haedon pulled no punches in his punch as he punched a planet-shattering punch.
Varian concentrated all his powers and met with a round kick. His leg twisted backward as the cracking of his bones resounded. It was a brutal and painful attack that nearly ripped all flesh out of his leg.
Holding back the scream that reached his throat, Varian stabilized himself and prepared his other leg.
Haedon didn't attack immediately and stared at him for a moment.
Varian's eyes flickered in resolve even as his arms and a leg were crippled. His hair stuck to his face, his clothes were sticking to his skin due to all the sweat.
The sound of his heart beating was loud against the backdrop of the sudden silence. Haedon could feel his condition just from that heartbeat. It was painful, heavy, and weak.
"Chickening out now?" Varian mocked as he prepared his left leg for the attack, even though he knew it was futile.
"You look so much like me," Haedon commented, ignoring his words. He blamed the death of his wife and daughter on Varian. He vowed to torture him brutally. But even with all the hatred, he couldn't help but sigh when Varian decided to die rather than flee. "I was the hero of my people. You are the hero of people. We both have our villains. I failed. So will you."
"Bullshit." Varian spat out a mouthful of blood. "You had some shit going on with Zions and got into fighting. There was legitimate enmity between you two. What did we humans do? Exist? You self-righteous motherfuckers want to kill us so that you can live and now you want to equalize our struggles? No, fuckface, you aren't the oppressed, you are the oppressor. You're just twisting the truth to feel good about yourself."
Haedon's body trembled with rage as his eyes flashed red. Ever since the Fairies broke the Blood Province, more than a hundred billion abyssals died.
A hundred billion!
Humanity was devastated by the death of three billion. But what about his people? He witnessed the scale of death and destruction these humans couldn't even imagine.
He saw young mothers cutting their own flesh to feed their starving children, and heard the cries of old couples crying at the corpse of their young grandchildren that still didn't graduate school. He'd never forget the scent of rotten flesh and blood he smelled in thousands upon thousands of cities. He'd forever remember the bloodied feather of his daughter that covered his face.
"We are not oppressed?" Haedon's chest heaved up and down. "You or any of yours don't have the slightest clue what we've been through. What we've been forced into."
"If I was you, I'd at least accept that I'm not sitting on a moral high ground," Varian replied, without even trying to continue the conversation or delay time.
His right arm was now coming back and would be usable in a few more minutes. But it's useless.
All his paths reached the peak of level 9. Unlike every fight until now, he's not growing stronger with each strike.
He tried his best. But it wasn't good enough. His strongest was still weaker than his enemy's weakest.
"I see. I don't care about morality anymore." Haedon's smile was tragic. He pointed to the corpses of the dead abyssals. The last living abyssal said. "All my people are gone. I am the last of my race. Even if I survived, even if I found some magical treasure to continue my race, I…I don't know if I can live with that."
Varian sighed in relief.
He and everyone here would die soon. But at least, humans had sent pioneers out of the solar system. There's hope and a high chance of human civilization surviving.
Maybe one day, someone would avenge them. But avenge what exactly? Abyssals were finished.
This lone survivor would also die by that time.
"It's funny, isn't it?" Haedon continued talking because he knew there'd be no one to hear once he resumed killing. This might be his final conversation for a long, long time. "Why am I even fighting for? Survival? My people are gone. Gaining glory? For whom? Revenge? Your actions indirectly caused their deaths but you are a secondary player. Why do I even fight?"
Varian wriggled the fingers of his right hand and tried to clench his fist. He couldn't. It needed more time.
Sia's potion seemed like an option. But it's not. If he took it, he'd need some time, not long, but still a considerable time to advance. Would this guy wait politely? No. Haedon might be talking now but once he took the potion, the abyssal would attack without hesitation and rip his heart out.
Even though he accepted he'd die, Varian wanted to die fighting, not in the middle of an advancement.
"So, why do I fight? Not for glory or survival but as an explanation for all the dead," Haedon's body glowed golden once again and an oppressive aura locked onto Varian. "Your deaths will be their last rites."
The sounds of bones crackling resounded once again and Varian felt the bones in his left leg also break.
With four limbs broken, he collapsed in the space as blood started to flow out of his open wounds.
"I will not kill you easily." Haedon clutched Varian by his hair and flickered forward.
The grip was so hard that Varian's scalp began to bleed. Varian struggled and wanted to teleport away but Haedon punched him on the back of his head and he nearly fainted.
Varian's eyes grew dizzy and all energy left his body. He's still awake but he's no longer able to effectively channel his aura.
Haedon clutched the enemy in his hand and appeared on the asteroid with Julius.
Julius had now recovered somewhat. But his eyes were dull. Feeling the arrivers, his vision shifted lightly and he recognized the bloodied young man.
'Varian…' Julius' eyes glowed for a moment before they dulled again.
Haedon threw Varian like a trash bag and the latter crashed on the ground and
rolled on the sharp rocks for a distance before stopping.
Varian grimaced as the rocks tore through his open wounds and dug in further. His body spasmed instinctively and he wanted to scream out. But something seemed to choke his throat and no voice came out.
His vision was blurry, his mind dizzy and his body weary.
Varian felt it at that moment. As his breath brushed against the fine dust on the asteroid and blew on his face, as his heart pumped desperately while his body began to slowly shut down, he felt death waving at him.
'My sweet death lady. You really want me that much, uh.' Varian wanted to smile but he ended up coughing and splattering blood on the ground.
"Julius was strong. Even the man that came after him, even though his power was borrowed, had considerable strength." Haedon's voice sounded as he stepped towards Varian at a leisurely pace. "But you, you are so weak it's laughable. How do you even dare fight me? It's not even a fight."
Varian gritted his teeth and wanted to refute. But he was right. Even if he took the potion, even if he reached the sovereign state, Varian was sure he couldn't crush Haedon.
The gap was just too big to be covered by three sovereign paths. Heck, even if all the eight sovereigns were alive and fought Haedon together, not the Haedon at his peak, but this pathetically weakened, injured, and exhausted Haedon, they'd lose. And they'd lose in minutes.
'You crazy bitch, you wanted me to fight Julius to reach the celestial state? I'd have died in seconds.' Varian cursed the system, bidding farewell to it in his own way.
[Host, you can escape. The system can…help. You don't have to die.] The system's voice was filled with uncertainty and disbelief.
It shouldn't be like this. The host's fate seemed to have changed. Varian's fate had always been a variable. But Logos could always figure out the general direction. But after he met the shadow of the Primordial God or maybe a bit even before that, Logos failed in reading his fate. Something…changed.
[Host, the price is your powers would be sealed for ten years. But it's alright, you ca—]
'Fuck off and go find a good host. Just don't try to kill him by bringing him catastrophe every other day.' Varian snorted as he felt someone grab his leg.
The next second, his vision spun and he rose into the air. Haedon held him by the leg and slapped him down like a racket.
BOOM!
The asteroid cracked and Varian's back broke, crushing whatever little mobility he had.
"Arg….fuc…k." Varian winced as he lay on the harsh ground, staring up into space and Haedon's face powerlessly.
It's finally here.
Haedon stared at the young man's face who was only a bit older than his daughter.
'Daughter…'
Haedon's eyes blazed with fury and he forgot his own plan to torture Varian before killing him brutally.
At this moment, everything in his vision began to fade away and only the young man remained.
This guy, his own actions were indirectly responsible for everything.
"Varian," Haedon clenched his fist and it began to glow with golden starlight.
The light shone down brightly on Varian's eyes and nearly blinded him. The sheer pressure from the light caused the ground to slowly cave in.
"I…" Varian writhed on the ground and tried to channel his aura to teleport. It didn't work.
"For all the miseries you caused me, this is your judgment." Haedon's golden fist reached his face like a meteor crashing into a planet.
