1534 Waiting For The 11
"Don't call me that!" Evander raised the gun and let out a thick killing intent.
"Master?" Varian was clueless to why he was reacting like this.
"Don't call me anything!" Evander roared like a lion. "You betrayed me! Do you still have any conscience left after what you did to my daughter?"
"Err, I talked to Sarah about it. She was okay with it. I swear on my soul that Sarah and Isad—" Varian started to explain before the gun moved forward and almost poked his nose.
"You had one thing to do!" Evander loaded the gun and said through gritted teeth.
"One thing?" Varian tried hard to think. If it's not Isadora, then what?
"Yes, just one thing!" Evander gnashed his teeth.
"Ah, I'm planning the upgrade of army, don't wo—"
"Fuck the army!"
"Wh-What?"
Listening to the man who dedicated his life to the army say those words, Varian wondered if he was in an illusion. Did a divine ranker capture him or what?
"It's been 15 years, you useless disciple! Where are my grandchildren? I was ready for 11! I even brought a soccer club! You didn't even give me 1! Damn it!"
Listening to the usual stoic and gentlemanly general spew vulgarities, Varian realized that he was really pissed.
Still, he couldn't help but say. "But 11 in 15 years is a bit too much, don't you think?"
The gun started glowing blue. Looks like was really about to press the trigger.
"…"
Varian turned to Alison for help.
The Imperial Secretary betrayed her boss and continued watching the conflict playout while munching popcorn.
'I should throw more work at her!'
As Varian wanted to punish the woman, a beam of light fell from the sky and Sarah in a pure white dress landed next to him.
And the moment she did, Evander put away the gun, adjusted his dress and looks.
"Daughter, do you want to try the akashia fish tonight? I learnt a special roasting method." He asked with a gentle smile.
'Wait, what the fuck? Why are you so classy now? What happened to that angry old man?' Varian was dumbfounded.
"Sorry, Dad. Var just returned. I'll try it other day, okay?" Sarah grabbed Varian's hand and gave him an apologetic smile.
"Haha! No worries! Anything for my angel! Drop by anytime you want! I'll be learning some new dishes soon! The special cut necessary for the extra juicy…"
'Wh-What the fuck is happening?'
Varian looked on with horror as the cold blooded general who butchered abyssals started talking about the right way to butcher a chicken and the benefits of pure organic spices in natural farms.
"Alright, Dad. See you later." Sarah turned to him and said with a subdued smile. "We're ready."
"See you, sweetie!"
*** *** ***
"He misses you a lot." Sarah said. "I wonder sometimes if he likes you more than me."
"Yeah, you're right." Varian shook his head before turning his gaze to a stone platform on top of the mountain.
Icarus floated in the air, a glowing sphere containing him from escaping. Even without it, there were dozens of formations set up to suppress his power.
Worst of all, he was constantly attacked by Sia and Enigma who woke up at some point and were using him as a grindstone to familiarize themselves with their newfound powers.
No. That's an excuse they gave to Varian. They just wanted to torture him.
"Enigma, Enigma, it's my turn already!" Sia's phantom jumped around Enigma, nagging her to give her rightful chance.
"Just one more." Enigma said with a cold face, her gaze fixated on Icarus.
The air around her was terrible, even in the literal sense. If a rank 8 stepped near, they would die due to the sheer killing intent. "Just one more."
With a wave of her hand, the gravity around Icarus collapsed and his body was smashed into blood, flesh and bones.
He didn't die. Not so easily, of course. But the pain of his body being crushed into pieces was undeniably real.
Enigma didn't do him any favors by heightening the fragility of his soul and then torturing it too.
"Kuk, Gruhh," With a pained groan, Icarus barely pieced himself back into a humanoid structure and looked at Enigma with an uneasy expression. "Do you think this will accomplish anything? We can just talk and solve things. You don't want to know who's behind m—arghhh!"
Icarus' upper half was twisted back and his spine was pulled out. It split into two and then drilled into his eyes, its tips burning as hot as magma.
"Arghhh!"
Flesh metled down, blood evaported away and bones got charred.
But Enigma kept saying "One more" and continued her relentless torture.
Even though she only got the corrected memories from Isadora, she could not bear to imagine what they went through.
She only hated that she couldn't give him more torture.
"Die! Die! Die!"
Even though she didn't say it out loud, Sia could feel what she was shouting in her head.
Enigma was mad.
"…I thought she would be done. It's been two hours already." Sarah shrugged.
Sia jumped, wrapping her arms and legs around him, hanging onto him like a koala bear.
"Varian! Varian! Varian!" She rubbed her face against his chest and tightened her hug.
He could only rub her hair as the concern in her heart flowed into his through their link.
Even the aftermath of those tumultous memories was this big. He still couldn't believe it was all over.
It was like a dream. Or was this a dream?
"Arghh! Arghh!"
"Arghh!"
"Equili—arghh!"
"Equlius, my grand—arghhh!"
"My grandpa's Equilius, you dumb bi—arghh!"
"Are you cray—arghhh!"
When Varian came to his senses, he noticed that this bastard was shouting some name again and again.
He turned to Sarah to conform and she shrugged. "Did we accidentally get the unknown grandson of Nexus' number three? Hard to believe. But who would be so audacious to attack a peak rank 1 despite being a rank 1? Calamity said that his background is indeed sketchy."
Seated in the distance on a smooth rock, Miss Calamity nodded lightly. "That's right. He also had a spark of divinity which was tracking Senior Sister. The aura belongs to Master, well, former master."
Isadora didn't have a very close relationship with that woman, so it wouldn't affect her much.
But Icarus himself wouldn't be able to get that spark from a powerful rank 1 unless she gave it himself.
She had no reason to. This guy was a weakling nobody from Nexus to her.
Then what?
Varian approached Icarus.
The divine ranker wriggled violently as he tried to get out of the barrier and grab Varian hostage.
But he was bounced back against the firm defense and could only stare at him with a vengeful look.
"You say your grandpa is Keeper Equilius?" Varian looked down at the bloodied man on the floor and asked with a curious expresison.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Icarus nodded vigorously and spread his hands. "So let me leave if you don't want to incur his wrath! He will soon find me!"
"Oh boy," Varian lowered his head with a chuckle. "Your luck is worse than mine."
