1518 The Only Chance
[That's what the System wants to ask. What just happened? Your soul is incredibly shaken and the Ignis path is growing at a ridiculous pace.
Even the paths of space and time…death and life?
What the heck is happening?
Don't tell me you had an enlightenment after listening to those devil's whispers?
And why everything except Order and Chaos? These are the paths you're supposed to be good at!]
Logos voiced its genuine skepticism.
Varian's lips trembled and his pupils dilated in utter shock.
'Whatever happened…Logos didn't notice…couldn't notice…'
For a moment, it struck him that perhaps whatever he was doing was all futile.
Even if he had slivers, he's but a mortal. He might reach rank 2, maybe even the mythical rank 3.
But then what?
The slivers came from the universe. They were bound to it. And remained subordinate to its greatness.
In the end, they would return to the universe.
As would he—his body would not rot if he becomes a divine ranker, but slowly, it would break down into tiny specks of matter over the period of millions, perhaps billions of years.
The incredible amount of aura stored inside him would leak out, bit by bit before nothing would be left.
He would've mastered the powers of life, death and soul. But when his life would end, his soul would wither and death would arrive, even if he reached the peak of his path, he would fall.
He might control space and time like they were toys. But time would eventually catch up to him and the space would not allow him to move anymore.
It would end.
It would all end.
The peak of rank 2 would die.
Even the peak of rank 3 would also suffer the same fate.
The Primordial Gods were at the pinnacle of their own avenue. They created a seed for an entire universe itself.
But even they died.
In the end, every great player, every legendary warrior, every dazzling genius—all remained bound in the place called universe.
No matter what they achieved, there were limits they would never be able to cross.
It's not their fault. The game was rigged from the start.
'-ian! Varian! Varian!!'
"Ah?"
The calls of Isadora through their link jolted him out of his complex and defeatist thoughts.
He looked up to see the battle, now reaching its end stages. Icarus was being thoroughly suppressed and might be killed soon.
It's a joyous moment for everyone.
The holy squad were grinning from ear to ear as they attacked wtih renewed vigor. They had reasons to be ecstatic.
Very few, if any holy squads ever make this far. Almost none return alive. Not only did they all survive, they're about to kill the devil and then return intact. Today would go down in history indeed.
While they were happy, Icarus was surely not happy.
He was losing and he too sensed his impending doom. So, he fought fiercer and fiercer, hoping for a miraculous comeback.
Immortal, however, was frighteningly calm. He calmly evaded the attacks and chipped away at Icarus' remaining fight.
But while he did so, there was a subtle shift in his fighting style. Unless one specifically observed, it was difficult to notice.
'He is looking for openings.'
Not against Icarus he was fighting against but against the holy squad and Isadora he was fighting with.
For better or worse, he wasn't finding any opportunity with Isadora.
He didn't know that she was already aware of his identity and remained cautious.
The logical explanation for him was that the two were the farthest from each other since the start. Isadora was going with range attacks and he was fighting close up.
It didn't raise any suspicions.
So, the man decided to strike holy squad at the opportune moment and wipe them out.
Then, dealing with Isadora would be a piece of cake.
As for that loser who would still be alive?
Heh, Immortal was deliberately keeping him alive so that he could show him what pain would look like.
Even though Varian stated that those insulting remarks were directed at Icarus and not him and it was all a ploy for the battle, Immortal wasn't going to let such a logical reason stop him from doing what he's set to do.
'Fuck logic!'
While he planned all this and prepared himself to act, his actions remained so clean that the holy squad didn't even notice the subtle changes in his gaze, focus and attacks.
'He is about to attack them.' Isadora's voice rang.
Varian stepped back from the black pillar to stop the interference of that annoying voice and asked. 'Your call?'
'If we notify them now, the battle against Icarus will cease. Even though we'll have the holy squad on our side, we'll have to fight against both Immortal and Icarus.
There is a small but probable situation where they could join hands to eliminate the holy squad and you before they fight each other to decide the winner.'
Isadora threw chains of darkness to bind Icarus from dodging others' attacks as she conveyed her plan.
Even though she was in the middle of a battle, Isadora's strategic mind remained crystal clear. The vast experience she accumulated as the legendary princess was not for show.
'So sacrifice?'
Varian raised an eyebrow while he recovered from the injuries he suffered due to the devil's whispers and built back his aura reserves.
'Yes.' Isadora's voice showed no hint of hesitation or guilt. 'When the devil is almost down, Immortal will sneak attack the holy squad. I will sneak attack Immortal.'
'Then what do I have to do?' Varian rubbed over the skin that had regrown on his hand and asked.
'You, you are going to deal the final blow to Icarus. He's already very weakened. You might be able to kill him.'
Isadora said before quickly changing her stance.
'I take it back. If he's not dead and escapes, it will spell a huge disaster. A recovered devil, even if he's only a phantom, is not something we can face again.'
There's a hint of fear in her tone.
The devil could recover much faster in his own place compared to them. That's also the reason it's taking them so long to take him down.
If he managed to recover to his peak, then their exhausted selves wouldn't stand any chance.
The only chance for survival from both Immortal and Icarus was going to depend on this one opportunity.
'You must kill him.'
