1233 Overwhelming
Varian stumbled back, his forearm dangling to his elbow, threatening to break off anytime soon. His knee was cracked and he couldn't stand without bending backward.
If there was anyone else, they'd have already given up fighting. Because there's no chance of winning at all.
The guardian showered him with deadly blows. As they were both heavily injured, the differential in their strength seemed to magnify and affect the battle tempo.
Despite nearly pushing the guardian to its death, Varian was the one losing.
But it wasn't going well for the guardian either.
'What the hell is wrong this guy?' Sarha asked herself, again as she coalesced potent energy.
Boom!
His foot exploded into fragments, bones and flesh scattering around. Though for Sarah, they weren't red, they were black and white, just like him.
The monster stumbled a little but quickly bounced back and pounced onto her, like a wild beast dead set on the hunt.
Crack!
Sarah's arm which had previously healed now went limp and nearly came off this time.
The monster had it worse.
The sound of something brittle breaking echoed. Its dangling forearm was literally ripped apart.
White blood with stains of black sputtered out like a fountain.
But the monster kept coming back to fight.
'It's crazy! It's not going to give up!'
Sarah's mind was on the verge of crashing down as the battle took a great toll on her.
If she was feeling this despite being in a better condition, what about that monster?
Kacha!
A solid fist landed on her abdomen and Sarah returned the favor with an elbow straight to the jaw.
The monster's jaw was broken and fragments of bone and flesh flew out. But like it was nothing, the monster turned its fist into a claw and pierced her abdomen.
A terrifying pain filled her mind.
For a moment, Sarah gave up. But the instincts Varian beat into her body acted up and raised her foot for a practiced-angle kick.
…And the monster blocked it on instinct.
"Arghhh!"
Sarah jumped back and clutched her bleeding abdomen. The monster was in worse shape than her, but it didn't give up, it kept fighting and it didn't care about the pain.
The pain…
Sarah's head grew dizzy. She instinctively assumed her offensive posture. And the monster too. But why did it feel familiar?
'Huh?'
The next few seconds went in a blur.
Sarah realized that they were both at their limit and resorted to fighting through pure instinct. It brought the purest form of their combat style out.
Blow after blow, injury after injury. They pushed each other closer to death with every attack.
But somehow…
Everything felt so familiar.
Just like when she was training with Varian when both of them pushed themselves to the absolute limit and still kept going.
'No, it's nonsense. But then how…'
Like her, Varian was also confused.
'She has the same combat style as Sarah. Did the monster kill her and absorb her fighting instincts? Or…'
It's most likely the former but given that there's a small chance of the latter, Varian hesitated.
He looked into the distance.
Eshala's phantom was starting to fade. Ten seconds was all the time he had.
But he decided to take on the bet.
Varian raised his fist and made a familiar gesture, which he did before every sparring match with Sarah.
The guardian trembled slightly before it responded with another familiar gesture.
'Is it…'
Varian jumped towards the guardian, raising his hand for a punch. The monster constructed a spear and thrust it outwards.
But when they finally did clash, his punch passed right beside its neck and the spear thrust right under his arm.
Varian froze in his state, dangerously close to the guardian, and stared blankly. It was a move with great risk.
But nothing happened.
The guardian stared back.
Its form was still alien, and so were his eyes. But the familiarity of the way it stood, the little movements of its limbs, posture, everything was familiar.
The move just now was how they last sparred trying to scare Boo they got into a fight and orchestrated a move full of flaws, exaggerations, and theatrics.
The guardian turned its back to Varian and spoke out something.
[Do you really wish to give up the quest?]
If she did this, while she could still retain the legacy until someone stole out, she'd not be able to return to Hortus anymore.
In the situation where Harvester was about to attack any moment, this was a suicidal move.
'Yes.' Sarah didn't show any hesitation whatsoever.
[You are disqualified. Find a way out yourself.]
Following the voice, the black and white energies covering her dissolved.
A heavily injured Sarah appeared in front of Varian.
Sarah looked at Varian's horrible state, hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
"S-Sarah…" Varian had a lot to say, but his rational mind pushed back everything and changed his words. "I'll need the legacy."
"Hm," Sarah didn't ask why and raised her palm. The skin of her palm was gone, shredded apart in the fight and her once beautiful palms were now utterly bloodied.
Varian felt a great pain watching her state but he knew there was no time.
A mystic light coalesced on Sarah's palm, exuding every color in the spectrum.
"Huh?"
Harvester's attention diverted to this side as Eshala's phantom launched her final attack.
Varian didn't know what he had to do, but he didn't need to.
The materials he collected from Centaurus bolted out of the storage ring and his artifacts flew towards the sphere of light.
The Aether Pendant and Crystal Armor fused together before jumping onto Varian. They took the appearance of his clothes, except a purple crystal pattern appeared on his heart position.
All of Varian's injuries, including his missing body parts, were restored in a moment.
He was back to full health, brimming with vitality. Even his fatigue was washed away and his tired mind was now more energetic than ever.
"Haaa!" Varian gasped.
The Demon Sword fused with the Gauntlet. A red-bladed sword with a black handle took shape.
It flew into Varian's palm and when it did, an aura of death and destruction leaked out.
Finally, the Nature Seed and the Space Ring fused together before forming a platinum ring with an ever-glowing stone.
The ring slipped back onto Varian's finger.
The fabric of space and time began to crack apart while huge amounts of energy converged onto him like he was the center of a tornado.
Varian put his new sword over the legacy and a small piece of the twisting sphere was sucked out.
But as a result, the legacy began to fluctuate, quickly growing unstable.
Even though he took only a small part of the power and was able to do so because he had been touched by the Deva legacy as well as the artifacts, it was still seen as an unauthorized action.
The legacy judged that it was stolen and started a self-destruction mechanism.
"Sarah, take it back!" Varian yelled.
The energy at the tip of the sword glowed with a binding light and a surge of power, unlike anything he had ever experienced flooded Varian's body.
Despite recovering to full health, his body began to fall apart almost instantly, unable to bear the immense power.
Almost at the same time, Harvester delivered the final blow to Eshala's phantom.
"Arghhh!" Varian's hands shook, bleeding rivers as the sword in his hand shook violently, the energy leaking out from it was literally destroying his body.
He couldn't control it. It's just too much.
Varian didn't hesitate any more and called out the power of slivers. A white and black light twirled around his hand before covering his palm.
Eshala's phantom began to dissipate but as it did, it clung to Harvester, trying to bring him down with it.
There couldn't be a better chance.
So, Varian swung his sword.
The world stood still for a moment before everything went dark.
The light of stars was cut off. The fabric of space and time was torn apart.
A flash of sword light appeared amidst the darkness and struck through a huge body.
Varian collapsed onto his knees right away and supported himself from crashing by holding his palms against the ground.
"You…" A giant crack of light was seen on Great Harvester's body and soul. The crack began to expand and devour him, like an abyss.
But instead of struggling, the Great Harvester started blankly at Varian. "You are the one he w…"
He scattered into particles of light and dissipated into the empty space.
Varian's body was down but his mind was still working.
So, the last words of Harvester disturbed him.
"No, no, die after saying it!" Varian screamed but the man who vowed to become a god was already dead.
"Varian, Sia…"
