It didn't take even a moment for the squad to take a decision. The current situation went beyond all expectations.
A simple 'weakling' somehow involved two very powerful rank 9s. Heck, even a future divine ranker was involved!
What the hell were they supposed to do?
A blue light flashed in the space and Varian ducked.
A laser beam passed right in the place where his left shoulder was. The beam travelled at great speed and eventually hit a star. The star disintegrated into little particles and even more darkness filled the region.
While this happened, six silhouttees blinked forward, reducing the distance between them at an alarming speed.
Varian jumped back, apparently not intending to fight them at their rythm. But they followed up, not intending to let him turn the game around.
"Who are you guys? Do you know who you are fighting against?" Varian yelled as he continued to escape.
"You, your family, heck, even the planet you're from would suffer the wrath of Princess Isadora."
Once he said those words, Varian wanted to slap himself. He was behaving exactly like those arrogant young masters.
'I was supposed to destroy them, not become one of them.'
While he lamented the circumstances that led him to this, the squad caught up to him.
They thought they were cornering Varian since they were rank 8 as opposed to his rank 7.
But they didn't know that this man was deliberately misleading them by using speed far lower than he's capable of.
While all of these members were clad in full-body silver armors with no other marks whatsoever, one guy had a large wolf symbol on his armor.
Rightly recognizing the leader of the squad, Varian asked. "How about we get to an agreement? It doesn't have to be this way."
Jovian paused for a moment, as if contemplating his offer.
But Varian had no way of seeing his expression as everyone in the squad was also wearing a silver helmet that completely covered their faces. If he didn't have the power of life, he'd have regarded them as robot soldiers.
In his defense, these armors weren't just your typical treasures. They had a high stealth function that was making it a lot more difficult for Varian to keep up with their movements.
'These all feel like special treasures. Who the hell is this loaded and wants to target me?'
From the words earlier, these guys weren't related to the two dukes. That leaves pretty much only two suspects.
Archduke Micheal.
Duchess Serenthia.
"Serenthia should really stop playing these games." Varian's words caused the squad to freeze for a moment before they leaped at him with full force.
"Keep my mistress' out of your fucking mouth!" Jovian shouted, his voice filled with rage and angst.
His fist, which was supposed to hit Varian's face, ended up missing by a few centimeters of gap.
"What?"
Only then did Jovian realize that he stepped into a black and white barrier. And after him, his team also jumped in.
"Welcome to your final moments." The panic on Varian's face gone, only a cold, cunning and predatory smile remained.
With hands behind his back, he asked. "So, seven idiots, how would you like your death?"
The eerie atmostphere caused one member to step back and try escape out of the barrier. But the black and white wall only rippled but did not break even as he tried to punch his way out.
"Don't bother. I took my time setting it up. In fact, I started working on it since Kriad arrived. None of you can break it sooner than I can kill you." Varian's confident words unsettled them more than the squad expected.
This guy was weird. He wasn't a rank 7 like he showed in the throne hall. And he didn't seem to be relying on the power of his sister-in-law either.
There's something very, very wrong with him.
Jovian gulped his saliva and stood in formation with his squad.
He scanned the young man with his senses.
The results were almost the same as the reports.
A rank 7 Paragon Body. He's still in the early states of the path.
Age was still 19. Ridiculous. But whatever treasure he had was holding up very well.
But…
"It doesn't have to be this way." Captain Jovian said, his tone easing a little and his mannerism slipping back to a negotiator than a warrior.
"Oh? Pray tell what do you mean?" Varian crossed his arms with a smile and put on an expression as if he intended to listen.
In reality, he was silently reinforcing the barrier.
He lied to them. He started working on the barrier only after he realized these guys were here. If all of them attacked together, the barrier wouldn't hold even for two seconds.
So, had to fix the barrier now or they'd realize his bluff.
"You are right that Duchess Serenthia has sent us. But it's not what you think it is." Captain Jovian said and took off his mask.
He's a handsome middle-aged guy, the kind that seemed not only reliable but also mature.
"She's the first one to search everywhere once you disappeared. These dukes, they didn't even care. I heard that they celebrated your disappearance and even wished for your death." Jovian said in a hushed voice, as if he was sharing a secret he wasn't supposed to reveal.
Varian maintained an unimpressed expression.
What did this guy expect?
That he'd get chummy with him with a few words?
"Duchess doesn't want your life. She couldn't do that to her own son-in-law, would she?"
"Well, I'm not so sure."
Varian was honest in his words.
"Seriously, we just want to kidnap you, not kill you!" Captain Jovian said with a sincere expression.
Despite trying to maintain a hard appearance, Varian ended up chuckling with a look of disbelief. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Jovian doubled down. "She just wants to talk to you. Nothing more. Nothing less. The first attack on you was meant to incapacitate, not kill."
Click!
Like two edges of a band were linked together, a click sounded.
"What was that?" Jovian asked.
"Hahahahaha!" Varian laughed and stretched his arms. "I've prepared the stage for our fight."
"B-But we don't really want to fight!"
Varian's fist loomed large in Jovian's face.
"But I want to."
Boom!
