706 Prince Var
Five hours and fifty minutes after the mission began:
Judie, the level 8, seemed to have been bogged down by an opponent.
So, the burden of mass killing fell the abyssals fell to the peak level 7 humans.
The strongest peak level 7 naturally took the task of killing the most powerful abyssal in the bunch.
"Die!"
A young man in combat uniform moved through space at an inhuman speed. His body blurred for a moment and the next thing, he was thirty miles ahead, punching at the head of an abyssal.
'Why is master's apprentice here?' Varian sighed inwardly as his body lit up in lightning and he flashed back.
Boom!
Despite his high speed, the fist grazed his face and as a result, his skin cracked and blood spilled out.
'Fuck, he's a peak level 7 and he's going for the kill.'
Varian gritted his teeth and created a lightning wall to block the next punch.
Kaacha!
It barely held on.
For the next hundred punches the human threw in the span of thirty seconds, Varian responded with a hundred lightning walls.
Of course, they held on barely but held on nonetheless.
"Don't you abyssals have pride? Why aren't you attacking?" Kane tried to provoke him as he continued his flurry of attacks.
'I don't want to accidentally kill you.' Varian had his own reasons.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Huff! Huff!" Varian panted as he felt the lightning mana in his body drop to dangerous levels.
Unlike other abyssals who rested after a few fights, he had been fighting continuously and as a result, his stamina wasn't in a peak condition.
It wasn't one or two, in these almost six hours, he fought dozens and dozens of humans. So many that he lost count.
While he was fatigued, he reaped great gains.
'Status.'
[Superhuman L7: 9.8k/10k (+1.8k)
Space L7: 9k/10k (+1k)
Lightning L7: 9k/10k (+1k)
Plantae L7: 9.5k/10k (+1.5 k)
Psychic L7: 9k/10k (+1k)
Macrokinetic L7: 9k/10k (+1k)
Water L 7: 9k/10k (+1k) ]
Even though the improvements weren't uniform, all his paths more or less were at the peak of level 7.
Especially, his superhuman and plantae paths. Since he used his body to fight the most, the superhuman path had the most improvement.
Since body fighting meant a tonne of injuries and his plantae path seemed to have a specialty in healing, it received the next highest improvement.
The improvement was wild, to say the least.
But it was only possible because Varian had so many opponents who were all very diverse and skilled.
On top of it, they were all going for the kill, elevating the combat intensity to the highest level.
The same results couldn't be achieved in a training room where safety was guaranteed.
'I really belong to the battlefield.' Varian smiled before his hand abruptly covered his face and his vision blurred.
Boom!
Prince Kane took advantage of his laxness and finally managed to hit him. His fist broke through the lightning barrier around Varian and reached his head.
'Yes! Elementals have a much weaker body, once my fist hits him, he'll be a gone—ehhh?'
Prince Kane's eyes widened as he saw Varian's hand covering his head at a speed too fast for an elemental.
Then, something even crazier happened.
Unlike breaking into pieces like how an elemental's weak hand should, his hand perfectly clasped his fist and pushed him back.
'D-Dual Awakener…?' His eyes widened in shock as a chill shot down his spine.
"Sorry about this." An apologetic yet unyielding voice sounded from the abyssal.
"W-Wha—arghh!" Kane's mind suddenly went blank as a psychic force assaulted his brain.
When he snapped out of it, the space around him was frozen and an invisible telekinetic force, along with ice chains imprisoned his limbs.
"L-Let me g—!" Kane's struggles stopped abruptly as he gazed at the abyssal who towered over him.
His eyes were brimming with a bone-chilling coldness that he rarely found in anyone, human or abyssal.
Suddenly, a thought flashed in Kane's mind and his heart almost stopped beating.
"Body, Lightning, Space, Psychic, Water, Telekinetic….who the fuck are you?" He asked in a voice that seemed to question his own sanity.
"…"
Varian expressionlessly looked at his senior brother.
During the solar banquet, Kane gave him a warm welcome and treated him like a junior, which he was.
But after a mere month, here they were.
Looking down at the man he once had to look up to, Varian was made aware of his own growth.
This man had been a peak level 7 back then. It was an excellent achievement for his age.
But after a month.
He was still a peak level 7. He had a minor improvement or two. But that's it.
On the other hand, he...
From a peak level 6 to peak level 7.
What others took a decade, he did it in a month.
A world of difference.
"Y-Yo—mff!" Kane's words were cut off as his eyes reflected the shining sword that the abyssal raised.
"!!!"
The sword swung down mercilessly.
*** *** ***
"The level 8 they sent is much more…sticky than expected. But there's something more terrible."
In the large hall of the spaceship, Ron stood on a stage with heavily bandaged hands as he addressed the crowd. Even though he was a heal fighter, he wouldn't refuse extra healing.
He scanned the crowd with a serious gaze before he let out a deep sight. "Thirty died. But my concern is that out of the thirty, we don't even know how twenty died. We at least have records from the other ten, but these twenty…"
"Sir, their deaths aren't in vain. They managed to kill a human before they died." An abyssal in the front seats, with bandages covering him from head to toe, said.
He only killed one human, but to do that, he risked his life and nearly died. It was certain that he won't be selected as a prince, but no one disrespected him.
Along with him, the 180 abyssals were also seated in the hall, with varying degrees of bandages.
Including Var.
"H-He…died." Wan, the abyssal from another city than Teran, the guy who sat beside Varian earlier, was now sobbing.
'Who is he crying for…?' Var gave him a puzzling glance.
"Y-Your friend, Jax…" Wan said in a sad voice that couldn't hide his disbelief at his lack of reaction.
'Huh? Ah! The guy who was from his city.' Varian looked to his left and realized the seat assigned to Jax was unoccupied.
'He was laughing and chatting earlier…I guess death is the same for both races. Just, abyssals are more prepared to die.'
"On our way back, I'll be evaluating your performance. According to your serial number, come ahead and show your results." Prince Ron announced.
Following his words, one by one, abyssals reached the stage and presented their 'results'.
Varian's body flinched and he turned his head away.
The 'results' were human heads.
'Soldiers…people who are protecting us.'
Seeing the abyssals hand the heads like they were some trophies, Varian had an urge to burn the whole place down.
Even though Ron seemed to be stronger than him, Varian was confident he could kill the rest.
'Stop…'
Forcing himself to calm down, Varian lowered his head and took a short breath.
Wan, the abyssal seated beside him though Varian was nervous. So, he was about to pat his back when his body suddenly froze. "Don't be nervous. One day, you'll be able to get so many human skulls you can hang them in your hou—hak!"
Before his hand could touch Varian's back, the 'abyssal' turned his head and gazed at him.
It was a chilling gaze filled with killing intent.
Wan was so scared that he nearly fell out of his chair.
Ron's gaze swiftly shifted to Varian as a look of shock appeared on his face.
"That killing intent…"
It was too overbearing.
Was this guy someone who bathed in enemies' blood or what?
Moreover, the aura he was giving off...
Even among this group consisting of several geniuses, he looked out of place. Like he belonged to a league of his own.
'Is he still having trouble controlling himself from the battle?' Ron guessed the reason for the burst of killing intent.
Some warriors, especially ones with a lot of hatred and kill count, would find it hard to get back to normal after heavy battles.
"You there…Var, is it? Show your results." Ron asked with anticipation.
Varian took a deep breath and controlled his killing intent.
The slip-up earlier was a mistake. Of course, since it was his first time acting and seeing such things, he had trouble controlling himself.
If it was a second time, Varian was confident he'd be able to not show such reaction, no matter how he felt inside.
But for now…
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The moment he stood up and started walking, the hall suddenly fell silent. A heaviness lingered in the air and the abyssals felt a weight pressing on their chests, causing them trouble breathing.
'Peak level 7?' Ron's eyes lit up. 'Should I send him to a top hunting team…?'
Facing the audience, Varian stood on the stage and unloaded the items from his storage.
"Ohhh!"
"Fuck."
"W-What?"
Gaps of exclamation rang out as a mountain of arms and legs sprawled on the stage, dyeing it red.
Ron opened his mouth in shock before a frown appeared on his face. "They aren't heads. While I could verify their DNA and see if the owners of these limbs died, it isn't enough proof. Our information network isn't completely accurate."
Varian tapped his bracelet and more than forty holograms flashed.
Shuaaa! Boom! Kacha!
The sounds of swords piercing flash, fists blasting heads, and kicks breaking spines rang out.
In every hologram, the abyssal Var killed a human brutally.
"Hiss!"
Except for Ron, every abyssal in the hall sucked in a breath of cold air.
A sudden realization dawned on them and they understood why Var only presented limbs and not heads or even torsos.
More likely than not, he burst the corpse into pieces. Heck, with the way he killed them, they were surprised he was able to save a limb.
"H-Hahahahaha!" Ron started laughing as if he had gone mad.
"Prince!"
"Kuruk!"
"Var!"
One by one, the abyssals stood up with fanatical faces as they cheered.
Feeling an intense gaze, Varian turned his gaze to the left and saw Prince Ron staring at him with an intense gaze.
It was a gaze he was very familiar with.
It was how Seth used to stare at him. A gaze with which you'd look at someone who'd fulfill your life's dream.
[Bring proof that you killed the human level 7s, head is preferred, other methods are also fine.]
Those were Ron's words before he sent them on the test.
If he had no other choice, Varian resolved himself to kill.
But…
His mind sense reached inside the ghost ship and saw the thirty-plus humans including Kane.
They were all unconscious and put into a deep sleep through the use of drugs. Their comms were destroyed so that no one could trace them.
And their missing limb was slowly being regrown from the potion treatment.
'Boo, take care of them and keep them unconscious until this mission is over.'
'Yes, master.'
Varian took a breath.
He wanted his revenge at any cost. But if he could, Varian decided to keep the human casualties as low as possible, even zero, though that was just his idealism speaking.
'Not just that…' Varian's eyes flashed.
Ron finished assessing the DNA of the limbs and they all matched with the identities of the humans on the holograms. What's more, the authenticity of the holograms was also verified.
"It's decided." Ron gave a bright smile and raised Varian's hand.
He didn't check others. Someone else would do it.
What he wanted right now was to announce the birth of a new star!
"Demon Abyss welcomes Prince Var!" Prince Ron announced with enthusiasm.
"Prince Var!"
"Prince Var!"
"War! Var! War!"
Varian's lips slightly curled up.
Neither the cheering abyssals in front of him nor the enthusiastic Ron could've ever guessed…
The prince they were cheering for—the new hope they were wishing well was their archenemy.
But even more than that, there was something they didn't know.
Something they wouldn't know…
…He was the one that killed those twenty abyssals.
