Isadora looked at the thin red line on her palm. A drop of blood was dripping down, its warmth and stickiness confirming over and over that it was real.
No matter how small, she was injured. By someone two full ranks weaker than her!
If it's because he's blessed by the World Will Of Hortus as its Lord, it's understandable. But she stayed in the ruins for the precise reason she didn't want to risk fighting Lord of A World, even more so, Lord of a unique world like Hortus.
The ruins were pulled into Hortus by Sarah and Oob with the help of Sia. They didn't integrate yet and were technically a 'world in a world'. So, the World Will wouldn't apply here.
'And yet, he continues to defy expectations. As if reaching rank 4 wasn't enough, he's manage to injure me, no matter how small. This man is too dangerous.' Isadora narrowed her eyes, peering through the smoke.
After a brief period of disbelief at his progress, Isadora's conviction increased multifold.
She, who considered herself the greatest genius simply on the fact she was created that way, now recognized him as a being worthy of both respect and fear.
The contempt in her eyes faded but the arrogance didn't. Even if he's the greatest genius in the universe, she'd still beat him down.
Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
The palace's ceiling was blasted into pieces and blown off into the sky because of Varian's sword strike. Now, part of the debris was falling down into this location. It was a rain of debris, big and small, alloys, and gems, sharp-edged and blunt.
Unbothered and uninterrupted in that rain walked a man. He loosely held the sword, as if he didn't bother about it slipping out, taking calm, calculated steps like he was having a stroll in the park.
The armor that was his clothes glowed lightly in the smoke. An invisible field formed by the armor repelled the debris away.
'I know he's like this but that attitude…it really pisses me off.' With a flick of her hand, an invisible power exploded out.
The debris of the palace froze in midair before humming. These materials were already sturdy, else they wouldn't be used for the construction of a palace. But with the enforcement of gravity, their quality skyrocketed.
Even nail-sized debris that previously weighed a hundred pounds now weighed a whopping million pounds. And it continued to rise.
But he evaded them with ease. His instincts were horrifying. Even Isadora, in her relatively long time, had never seen anyone like this.
There were people who fought longer and more frequently than Varian. There were those who fought every single day their bodies were in a usable condition.
But few fought like him. Always against a stronger, higher-ranked, and more experienced warrior.
As a result, Varian forged a path that was hard to fathom. His fighting instincts had reached an incredible state, putting him as the undisputed best of all those that Isadora had seen.
'But the more special you are, the more reasons I have to eliminate you.'
Isadora's eyes flashed with a gleam of light. The debris was blown away and instead, the field of gravity shifted onto Varian.
His body stiffened for a moment but his movements didn't stop.
But when Isadora's eyes flashed with a silvery light, he abruptly halted.
Veins popped up on his forehead, his breathing grew ragged and he gasped. His eyes switched between blank and focused every few seconds.
It was only then did he really experience her strength.
Yes, he could exert the strength of seven paths and achieve the strength of a mid rank 6. With the help of the newly upgraded artifacts, even fighting a high rank 6 and a peak rank 6 was possible.
But this woman…she had three rank 6 paths, all at their peak.
Since he's one with multiple paths, he knew how strong a warrior with multiple paths was.
There's a world of difference between one awakener with three paths and three awakeners with one path.
For better or worse, the gap between each celestial rank was immense. Even if you had two paths, there's not much you could do against an opponent a rank higher.
But the same rank?
"Ughh!" Varian's mind was consumed by an unending series of nightmares, from his defeat to death to the destruction of humans to the murder of Sarah, Sia, and…Enigma.
His soul came under direct attack and as a peak rank 4 binder, there wasn't much he could do against a rank 6 attack.
If he put all the power into his soul path, then he'd literally lose his physical prowess and would be turned into a hedgehog under her darkness swords if he wasn't already crushed into paste under the immense gravity.
'Varian, let me—'
Sarah's voice sounded through the link born out of Synergy.
'No. Do not confront her. She's very, very dangerous.'
Varian didn't want to put Sarah the brunt of the risk. Even though Sarah's injuries were healed, she was mentally exhausted. Not everyone was Varian to fight endlessly without losing their efficiency.
It's like driving a car. You could drive well for four, eight, or even twelve hours, depending on your proficiency. But after some point, you must stop or risk high danger.
Varian was so used to these fights that he could keep going. But Sarah, he feared, might make a mistake or two. Against someone like Isadora, a single mistake would cost her life.
Even if it didn't, Sarah fighting would mean she could held hostage and be used against him. Varian wanted to avoid that outcome at all costs.
'Minimize your presence.'
Of course, he wasn't purely driven by emotion. He knew he had a low chance of winning against Isadora. And he had no problem taking the help of his wives when needed.
'Wait for a chance and strike her hard when the opportunity surfaces. Put your safety first. She knows you're staring at her, but she looks down on you, so use that to your advantage.'
Isadora's lips curled into a cold smile at his struggle and she flicked her fingers like she was sprinkling water.
Her arrogance hurt that she was injured by someone two ranks lower. If only to recover her bruised ego, she decided to break him down.
Three swords made of extreme darkness materialized in front of her. And then, a field of darkness began to expand from Isadora.
It devoured everything it came into contact with and in a blink, the whole place was a domain of darkness, without the slightest light.
It wasn't just darkness in the sense of lack of light. It was darkness in the lack of sound, smell, and even touch.
Varian's body instinctually moved and dodged a sword to his neck. But the sword still managed to lodge into his chest and pierced through his back.
