711 Second Hunt: Planetoid Avar
Three of the eight Xanders in the top 25 were eliminated by Varian.
The battles weren't really battles and except for the last one—ranked 16: Easton Xander, the other two didn't even stand three strikes.
A psychic attack would pull them into an illusion and delay their response.
Then, throw a spear or a punch while boosting the damage by adding the telekinetic force to the attack.
It was a simple tactic but worked wonders.
As a result, Varian didn't progress much in the hunt so far.
The fourth day was spent resting. Varian checked on Sarah and Sia in the ghost ship.
They were both immersed in their respective breakthroughs. The aura coming from Sia's room caused him to feel a sense of danger.
From Sarah's room, however, he couldn't feel any aura.
"Weird, she can hide her aura perfectly? Is it a perk of Cosmic Union Body, no, Primal Union Body, eh, Grand Union Body…"
[Host, please stop.]
"You're just jealous, aren't you?" Varian didn't want to admit the obvious.
Besides, even if naming sense was terrible, he was just naming in private. What the fuck was this system's problem? It wouldn't let him name in peace? Give him some privacy, okay?
[This system is contemplating suicide listening to those vile names.]
"Go ahead. No one will miss you."
[…Even after everything we've been through, you say those words.]
"Excuse me? I was the one that went through everything."
[This System doesn't know if it should be happy that you are becoming more and more eloquent.]
"Talk about changing the topic.]
A long drawn-out sigh sounded in his mind.
[You win.]
"Kek." Varian smirked in pride.
*** *** ***
"The target of the hunt—Austin, is notorious for his illusions and is one of the masters at hiding himself. Level 8s can still find him, but except for a few exceptionally strong level 7s, he might as well be invisible. Some even nicknamed him as the Invisible Hunter."
In the meeting room, Ron explained their hunting target to the team that was going to search in the area he was suspected to be.
Out of the four abyssal members, Varian was the only one who maintained a neutral expression.
He even appeared a bit aloof, which upset his new teammates.
But he wasn't goofing around.
"In addition to invisibility, his illusions are very dangerous. He is infamous for creating illusions that show your deepest regrets and your greatest desires."
Varian understood this guy might not be as easy as the previous ones. Even though he was damn confident about killing him, he worried if he could kill him before he called reinforcements.
'I can kill reinforcements too, but if they manage to inform the human side that a dual or triple awakener abyssal is the one that killed them, then…'
Sooner or later, abyssals would also learn of it. It'd end up exposing his identity.
"…so, don't take the risk yourself. Craft a proper strategy and inform your teammates when you find him, yeah?" Ron finished his speech.
The team members, including Varian, nodded.
*** ***
"You better inform us or you'll be in deep shit." An abyssal with a spear strapped to his back glowered at Varian.
"…"
"You can answer, right?"
Varian rolled his eyes and looked at him like he was viewing a negative IQ species.
"If you die in our team, it'll sully my record. If it wasn't for Ias getting injured, I wouldn't even take you in no matter what Prince Ron said. So, you better be grateful and don't die on me."
The abyssal seemed to be the team leader and cared a lot about the team's track record.
[Back at you.]
The words flowed out from Prince Var's bracelet.
The team leader glanced at the words and was about to open his mouth when the announcement came.
[We're reaching the Avar planetoid. Split up and keep in touch.]
Gritting his teeth, the team leader entered his spaceship, and following him, the three team members began to search the area.
Avar planetoid.
Located on the edges of the planetoid branch, it only housed a single level 8 who served as a base commander.
According to the reports, a level 7 abyssal along with seventy level 6 abyssals on the planetoids were killed in a space explosion created by human awakener.
But upon further inspection, it was found that the level 7 abyssal was in prime condition and should've been capable of escaping the space explosion.
Since his reaction was delayed and the post-explosion inspection didn't show any other space power traces, the blame went on a psychic.
But the level 7 abyssal would've retreated if he found a psychic was also on hold. So, it was more likely that the psychic wasn't found.
Invisible. Psychic.
'There's a 70% chance it is Invisible Hunter.' Varian recalled Ron's warning and glanced out of the glass.
A tiny blue dot came into view before it quickly expanded into a planetoid and zoomed in further into an abyss base.
The spaceship Varian was currently using was one of the abyssals' 'patrol spaceships'.
So, when he was entering the planetoid, the human side tried to annoy him but didn't really target him.
As Varian stepped out, the commander of the stronghold gave him a strong nod and informed him of six border regions.
The planetoid, like all others, was divided by humans and abyssals who shared a long border.
These six regions were some of the most likely locations where Auster Xander could be present.
Varian's teammates were also at other bases, about to search other regions.
"Once you show your insignia, the acting commander of the base will assist you." The base commander, an old abyssal with brown hair and beard, said in a deep voice.
Varian gripped the sword-shaped insignia which indicated his identity and status. He might really need it.
"I wish you luck." The base commander wished as Varian's body blurred and disappeared.
'Boo, hack the human planetoid system and gather the intel.' As he moved past the abyssal defense bases and sprinted to the border, Varian ordered.
'Yea~' Boo replied and in three seconds, displayed thousands of holograms in front of Varian.
Varian's mind sense covered every single hologram and his thought process suddenly accelerated.
From all the locations, he picked the one where soldiers are more relaxed.
It wasn't in the six regions he was given. If he followed the orders, he'd have missed it.
'Tch.'
Clicking his tongue, Varian changed his direction and sprinted to a location three hundred miles away.
In a few seconds, large settlements and military bases came into view.
'The abyssal side of the border…'
Varian took a deep breath and rushed to the end of the base, just to the gates, and stopped.
The guards at the gate were about to question him but shut up after seeing his insignia.
"Prince?"
"H-He is here because…"
Ignoring their reactions, Varian stared into the distance.
Fifty miles away was a human base with defense fortifications.
On both sides, soldiers were patrolling their side of the fifty miles while fiercely watching the other side.
Sixty miles to his right, a medium-scale battle was taking place as another abyss base fought with a human base.
Varian glanced at the human soldiers on the opposite and took a deep breath.
Knowing what he was about to do, an uncomfortable feeling rose in his chest and caused Varian to grit his teeth.
'Fuck.'
Varian clicked a button on the insignia and an item shot it into the air.
A firework exploded in the air, forming a special pattern and giving off a unique smell.
"Roar!"
The silent abyss base suddenly burst into war as a few thousand abyssals suddenly shot towards the human side.
