Two beams of concentrated life essence soared, taking the shapes of hideous snakes, hissing and glaring at the enemy.
The two surviving Life Spirits looked at him with a hateful expression. But their eyes were shaking in fear they couldn't control. They controlled their instincts at the last moment and did not attack.
They seemed to have decided that if they had a chance to survive, it would be by defense.
Varian didn't bother about finishing them off right away.
'Where is this urge coming from? Hmmm, Death Giant? It's seeking something…'
The power of Death Giant rose to the forefront. A bleak aura spread from Varian, one that's antithesis to life itself.
The corpses, floating around as whole or in parts, squirmed.
Then, as if it's a scene straight out of a horror movie, shiny red threads began from the blood and flesh, making their way to Varian in a zig-zag pattern.
The moment they touched him, the shiny red thread turned into a fluid red. To an onlooker, it's as if Varian was connected to a bunch of tubes to transfer blood. It's just the blood was glowing like some mystical liquid.
Unlike his counterpart Devourer, Death Giant fed on death. But like complimentary paths, they were sides of the same coin.
Varian's physique started to improve at a quick pace as the essence of death began to fill his being.
An interesting reaction occurred while this happened. Even his Paragon Body began to improve and that further fuelled the improvement of Death Giant.
Varian recalled the description of the path and understood why.
[If the Paragon Body is a straight line, this is a curve—a curve that could go above or below.
A Death Giant takes in the death essence and death force for building a perfect body—a body that has the potential to surpass Paragon Body.]
Both the paths had the same goal—building a perfect body.
A Death Giant typically starts out from scratch. It has no reference point. So, the practitioner would devour as many high-quality corpses as possible so that the path would gear him toward a perfect body.
A Paragon Body on the other hand, already got the blueprint figured out. It knows exactly what to do and how to do it. But it severely lacks the life essence and life force to build up to that state. Moreover, even if a lot of necessary resources were supplied, a weak body couldn't just take them all and bear the load.
What was happening right now was a wonderful synergy between the two paths.
Varian's foundation was Paragon Body. Instead of trying to build a separate body or physique, Death Giant was improvizing the standard foundation.
The most common danger for Death Giant path was its deviation. But with the standard set by Paragon Body itself, the deviation could only go up.
Put it another way, Death Giant provided 'energy' and 'essence' necessary for Paragon Body to grow. Paragon Body provided the 'direction' for Death Giant.
As a result, the two paths weren't just rising, they were skyrocketing.
A sound similar to veins popping rang in the space. But compared to what one would expect from a normal person, this sound was enough to send shockwaves dangerous enough to crack the moon into two.
Varian himself was surprised and looked down at his fists. They looked the same from the outside, but everything had changed. He's now heads and shoulders above his strength just a few moments ago.
'Why didn't this happen right after I started the path? A threshold, perhaps?'
As he wondered about the pleasant surprise, his keen senses caught the two Life Spirits trying to do something sneaky.
Varian's senses couldn't determine the exact change at first. But as the space around the two changed subtly, he realized they were preparing for a space jump out of this region altogether.
He exhaled lightly. But it's like he blew out a quiet flame, the fluctuating space around the two Life Spirits exploded, sending them flying to Varian's feet.
"Wait, we didn't even want t—"
"We mean no h—"
Their heads exploded and two red new read threads connected to Varian. Paragon Body and Death Giant resumed growing.
'Progress is intoxicating…intoxicating indeed.'
With everyone dead and their corpses put to good use, Varian was finally able to focus outside.
But before that—
'Status'
[
Paragon Body : 5,000/10,000 (+3000)
Death Giant : 5,000/10,000 (+3000)
Ignis : 2,000/10,000 (+500)
<Seriously, What the Hell?>
Order : 5,250/10,000. (+250)
Chaos : 5,250/10,000. (+250)
< A little progress. The System is rooting for Order and Chaos paths. Don't get overtaken by the Sage Avenue!>
Space : 2,500/10,000. (+500)
Time : 2,500/10,000. (+500)
<A little improvement is better than nothing. You should fight against stronger opponents to grow faster.>
]
"Pheww~"
Varian glanced out of the barrier with a serious expression.
The battle outside was coming to a close.
The 'clone' was now dull grey, in contrast to the bright glow she exuded at the beginning.
Miss Calamity was losing.
Duke Kriad and Duke Corinthian were stronger than she expected. But it's not just that. Both of them seemed to have used some precious treasures to achieve this result.
Miss Calamity's clone had no treasures of her own. This battle wasn't even that important for her. But for the two, this was literally a life and death issue. They couldn't afford to lose.
"Stop!"
Varian canceled the barrier and yelled. Charged by aura, guided by space-time power, his voice reached the rank 9s who were in the middle of a battle.
The three stopped, not because he said so, but because they were surprised by his survival.
"Y-You!" Duke Kriad's single eye widened and quickly burned with killing intent.
Miss Calamity raised a hand toward Varian, intending to shield his life. But Kriad's face showed a different degree of madness. Even if he's going to get severely injured, he had to kill this bastard or they'd be in big trouble.
Varian sensed this too, so he said. "Wait, wait, wait, I have a deal. A win-win-win deal."
