1327 Emergency
"Ehh, nevermind," Varian rolled his eyes and declined the call. He'd pick it up some other time.
He's busy now.
Closing his eyes and sealing all his powers except the space and time powers, he said.
"Come o—"
A glowing golden thread blasted the air as it dashed toward him like a vengeful snake.
Since all his other senses were shut down, the only thing he could rely on was the fluctuations in space between them that the golden thread passed through.
But to confuse him, there were more than a dozen such golden threads blasting in random directions before suddenly taking a turn at him.
This was where the time power came in.
The time sense wasn't outrageous enough to show him the future but it gave him a very strong intuition. It's roughly the sixth sense but with its own flaws.
Rather than showing him a definite future, the time sense instinctively made him aware of the probabilities.
These probabilities were ever-changing in response to his every movement and were complex for a normal person to figure out.
Pouring his aura into his feet, Varian jumped back. The hair-thin thread still a foot away from him extended without warning and reached him.
It got the perfect opportunity to slice his neck when its time flow abruptly slowed down.
Varian used that little window to move his head away and instead of a severed neck, he got a thin but very sharp red line on his cheek.
"Aww~ Did I just disfigure my husband's handsome face?"
He shouldn't be able to hear the words she said but they sounded directly in his mind.
Varian's lips twitched but he didn't get into rage.
Sarah had been learning some bad habits from Isadora. This 'Arrogant Princess' act had been the latest and most outrageous.
Whenever he fought Isadora, the woman taunted him mercilessly, causing him to fight back harder and harder.
In a sense, it did help him grow stronger and faster but Isadora enjoyed those battles more than Varian.
For certain spectators who were watching this battle intensely, it looked as if hundreds of glowing golden threads were aimed at him, and in response, Varian simply danced through them.
Sidestepping, jumping up and down, sideways, ducking, stretching arms, bending legs. It's like a masterclass on his body's flexibility and strength.
"Stop drooling, Sia."
"Then don't stare at him with those eyes."
"You two, things like physical attraction are for the weak! They do it because they don't have anything else going on in their lives! Why can't you be serious and focus more on your own strength?"
"I'm on a break."
"Are you seriously asking that? I feel if I grow stronger, you'll also grow stronger. What if you tried to kill Varian? I don't trust you!"
Isadora wrapped her arms around her knees tighter and gnashed her teeth in frustration. "I used to live in so much peace when I was the only one! But you two! You are sooo annoying!"
"Right back at you."
"Something we can all agree upon."
The trio ignored the aura shockwaves that continued to sweep them from the battle. If it was even a rank 4, she'd have died instantly. But they didn't even bat an eyelid.
And suddenly, the battle stopped.
"Huh? He fainted already?" Sia took over and walked through the cloud of dust and spots of glowing spheres.
Despite being artificially constructed by their powers, this arena suffered a lot. It'll probably sustain one more match but that's it.
Like always, Sia was ready to take him home, heal him, and get him some rest. But she stopped in her tracks as the dust and light suddenly vanished.
Varian stood with a frown, Oob flapping its wings in front of him nervously. Sarah's expression was also grave.
"The space gate just exploded," He gave her a glance and disappeared.
When he appeared at the outskirts of the solar system, a new incoming aura wave greeted him.
"Fuck you!"
Facing the tsunami that could devour the entire solar system, Varian raised his own aura. Like the clash of two great beasts, his aura hit the aura tsunami.
A huge wall of blinding light appeared on the outskirts of the solar system, illuminating every color in the spectrum.
Varian panted heavily as the sudden exertion after a strenuous battle session took its toll.
"I-Is everythi—"
"Yes, master. No more aura shockwaves."
Sighing in relief, he appeared in front of a purple space crack that was quickly closing down.
Varian felt an unfamiliar aura coming out.
"This…"
Only a few strands of aura made it this far but each of them was strong. Strong enough to the point he wondered if he could even take a single attack from this aura's owner.
"Rank 8…" Varian's eyes widened. "Damn it! Fucking rank 8!"
The plan went in a completely unexpected direction. The Princes who were only peak rank 7s should have acted as cautiously as possible and not invited rank 8s.
And even when their activities do get found, they should've already returned and destroyed the space gate!
But this?!
"Did you sense them nearby?" Varian asked immediately.
"No. I can't sense any powerful auras nearby. But the space gate's destruction occurred in the vicinity of the inner space. So, those people shouldn't be very far. Maybe in Cena—"
Varian grabbed into the void and a shivering Baldur appeared in front of him.
"Ce-Centaurus has rank 7s fighting nearby!"
"Great." Varian hissed.
"And another powerful aura far away but I don't know if it's a rank 8," Baldur explained.
"We need to get going." Varian drank a healing potion and said.
"But you can't do anything with your strength!" Baldur raised his voice. "Can you?"
"No, you're right. I can't fight peak rank 7s with my strength," Varian grinned.
Baldur was confused. "Then wha—"
Under the prince's uncertain eyes, Varian pointed to the three floating structures not too far from the destroyed space gate.
"But they can."
The three fortresses.
