1296 God's Favorite Cub
Hazel was worried. If this bastard killed everyone, who should she send over to the other galaxy? But it's not like there's anything she could do at this point.
"But…" She looked at the screen depicting Varian. Since it was an emergency, he decided to keep it active for updates.
Unless it's something important, she could see what he's doing. And she'd been quietly watching him for the past thirty minutes, right since the green star began to bloom.
More than a billion Zions were already dead so far and billions more were on the way.
But other than acknowledging her reports, Varian didn't even show a hint of concern.
'What does he know that I don't?'
Hazel quietly prodded some members of her to migrate the population from the star systems close to Zion.
The official reason was the economic meltdown, the refugee crisis, and of course, mercenaries from Zion that went rogue.
To that end, she took a ruthless step and had a planet and its few moons destroyed.
Of course, she didn't take lives. The people on the planet and the moons were evacuated before the destruction. But they were prevented from contacting anyone else. In the eyes of the world, they were already dead.
It provided credible evidence and there was only a small population of Fairies who lived close to the border.
Varian raised his hand and the power of assimilator spread out from his palm violently, drowning everything in their path, like the waves of a tsunami.
They enveloped all the Zions 'resting' in the forbidden region. Some lost their arm, others their leg. The lucky ones lost a few fingers while the unlucky ones lost their lifespan. Varian didn't intend to kill any, so they all remained alive.
Seated cross-legged in the air, Varian absorbed their experiences in the gravity path and used it to further his space and time paths.
The progress was significant. At the same time, his practice in the paths of Energy and Matter using the slivers also bore fruit.
'Status'
[Adept Rank 5: 200/2500 (+200)
< The training is coming along well >
Assimilator Rank 5: 500/2500 (+490)
< Using this power a bit too much, aren't you?>
Binder Rank 4: 999/1000
<Don't neglect>
Energy Rank 5: 0/2500
Matter Rank 5: 0/2500.
< Your rank is too low to gain real insights from the slivers>
Space Rank 5: 100/2500 (+80)
< Work Hard >
Time Rank 5: 50/2500 (+40)
< Synergy with Sarah will help >]
Varian exhaled deeply and stretched his arms. Now that this session ended, next was sparring with Champion Gor and then with Hybrid Mor.
"I must be god's favorite cub, he gave me so much talent that I sometimes feel pity for others." He shook his head with a wistful sigh.
His gaze towards the sky seemed to be saying. 'Isn't it too unfair? Unfair for others, that I'm this talented?'
"S-Should I close the call? I-I can hear you." Hazel's meek voice rang.
"Oh, you're learning some truths, lass." Varian pretended to rub the long beard, though he shaved clean daily.
Truth be told, he wanted a small break to celebrate the advancement. It's not like he could fight the rank 7s now but he's so much closer.
Noticing that he's in a good mood, Hazel mustered up the courage to ask. "Prince Merov is going to destroy the capital! The source of rank 5 and rank 6 will be gone! How are you not worried?"
"Eh, nothing will happen," Varian replied with a yawn.
"B-But…"
"Jataur knows what we know. And he knows more. He sacrificed the entire duchy for his safety. Have faith in his paranoia, little one."
"…okay." Hazel bowed her head and nodded weakly.
Varian blocked off the call and began his sparring session with Champion Gor—whose injuries were always customized to keep him significantly strong but not so strong that he couldn't be fought.
— — — — —
A powerful aura broke out of Sarah. The 'legacy' was more complicated than she initially thought.
It wasn't just a powerful mass of aura, it had a lot of information and insights that would perfectly integrate with her.
It shouldn't have been this easy. However, the Primal Union Body managed to utilize the legacy to the fullest.
Once she reached rank 7, Sarah raised her hand and a sword of light materialized in her palm.
The world around her blurred and she disappeared, without any fluctuations of space. It was as if she was never there in the first place.
"You old lady, come out and fight!" A powerful aura storm shook a floating mountain in a Hortus planetoid, enchanted for powerful battles.
Sia stepped out in confusion before letting out an "Oh" and giving reigns to Isadora.
"What's your problem now?" The legendary princess glanced at Sarah with a murderous gaze. With a snort, she wielded an exquisite sword of darkness.
"Old. Lady. Oh, I'm sorry. I should've called you great-great-great grandma." Sarah's voice was sincere, convincing, and strong. "Don't you feel ashamed for trying to kill someone who's not even 20? Bad grandma, Bad! I'll beat you up today and teach you a lesson you'll not dare to forget."
Veins popped up on Isadora's forehead and her chest heaved up and down violently.
"You little…" Isadora wouldn't have felt anything if a random 20-year-old called her these things.
But this was Sarah—without her, she could've killed Varian. The prime culprit for her plight today!
"Until your husband comes and begs me to stop, you're in for hell."
"Sure, Sure, saggy skin," Sarah said and lifted her seal.
"You really want to die!"
Half of the world was covered by a blinding light and the other half was covered by a suffocating darkness.
The world fell still for a moment before fierce shockwaves swept the barrier they had set up at the last moment.
The whole of Hortus, right from its host star to the original planet and now the ruins—everything began to tremble violently.
Like a radio anchor, Alison got onto an announcement again.
< Have no fear. The Queens are sparring. >
The people also got used to such sudden events more or less. So, life went on.
Varian paused his training as he felt the aura fluctuations. But instead of rushing to stop them, he decided to strategically wait for a while before jumping in.
"Haa! Haa! O-Old…!"
"Huff! Huff! S-Stupid…!"
By the time he reached the planetoid, the two women already had numerous injuries.
But the by looks of it, they weren't aiming for each other's throats.
Isadora didn't find any reason to kill Sarah. Even if she tried, her two 'friends' would jump out and stall her. That'd be enough time for Sarah to activate the seal again.
A part of Sarah really wanted to kill Isadora. But she couldn't do so without ending Sia and Enigma. So, she had to give up.
Due to the intense, unrestrained battle, their power levels dropped to a range that's just above peak rank 6.
Isadora gave him a strong gaze. "We've gone too far to stop now. Back off and let us battle it out."
Sarah nodded. "Don't stop me, Var. I'll need to beat some sense into this arrogant meathead."
Varian's lips twitched. Sarah's advancement wasn't a big surprise. If he hadn't used a significant chunk of the legacy to kill Great Harvester, she'd have already reached that rank back there.
But to think the first thing she did after advancement was fight Isadora…
'This is my woman!' Varian beamed with pride and brandished his own sword: Requiem.
The power of life and death pushed back the powers of light and darkness, now dividing the sky into three.
"I'm not gonna stop you two, but if you're fighting, you can't leave me out."
"W-What?"
"What?!"
He slashed his sword.
