Before entering the forbidden grounds, Isadora gave the group very specific instructions.
The holy squad was confused. Even though the tactical plan she made wasn't bad, it was weird to adopt a tactic, any tactic for that matter when entering an unpredictable terrain.
Nevertheless, the holy squad followed her words and marched to the barrier while preserving their energy.
But instead of crossing the invisible red line which would trigger the enemies, the team stopped.
Under the red sky and on the gray ground, Varian took a step forward and then another. And then another.
Kicking off dust, he raced forward at a speed that tore the space of the forbidden grounds themselves. Time began to distort around him.
The power residing in the depths of his soul gushed out and enveloped him entirely. Then, the power of death from Death Giant and the power of life from Paragon Body followed.
Lastly, it was the slivers which came out boosting the order-chaos powers that enveloped him.
'This…This…what the fuck is going on?'
'No way!'
'Impossible!'
The holy squad gasped, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as they watched Varian with a dumbfounded gaze.
If speaking was possible here, they would have yelled. And would've spoiled the plan. Thankfully, only silence filled the area.
The hammer warrior belonged to Life path, the old witch to the Chaos path and the space wizard, of course to the space path.
And all of them recognized something that ridiculous in their perceptions.
Varian was…disappearing!
The hammer warrior couldn't the traces of life coming from his form. The tiny traces of soul fluctuation he could sense long vanished.
If a radar that could detect all living and dead beings was used in this place, he wouldn't show up!
The space wizard could no longer feel the presence of Varian in the space lines around him.
If there's a time wizard or even better, someone proficient in both, they would claim that he had disappeared from the space-time map of this location.
The old witch was shivering in fear. Compared to his feat in the other paths, Varian's achievement in Order and Chaos were too astounding.
Every person would have the fields of order and chaos around them. These two would always be in conflict and even a genius in the path of Order could not erase the field of Chaos from his being.
But this man…
'Gone! Everything is gone! There is no order, no chaos. Dear gods, what have I witnessed?'
Varian didn't 'vanish' of course. He just suppressed everything to the absolute minimum.
That's why, even though the holy squad claimed that he vanished, they could still sense his existence.
Covered in what he termed as 'Absolute Stealth', he crossed the trigger line.
Hundreds of thousands of blue rocks sitting in front of the translucent barrier shook for a moment, prepared to attack the intruder. But when they found no one in the vicinity, they slumped down to rest.
'Just a few more seconds, a few more, few more…'
Varian was on the verge of collapse. It's like he had sprinted through a marathon and paid the price for that stupidity.
His muscles were sore and his mind was growing hazy. The clear vision had already turned foggy and the sharp senses began to decline.
'Found him!'
Varian stopped near a small blue mountain.
'The peak rank 9 giant.'
Even if they worked with a plan from the star, they might not kill it. The laser beam of this thing was too strong.
And even if they did win, what would await their exhausted selves would be hordes of hungry beasts.
The plan was thus to not fight at all.
' 36 degrees from that coordinate and 24 from this…'
Once Varian stopped near the peak rank 9 beast, he moved into a particular spot. It was one of the many possible spots he could take from the location of giant beast.
With great effort, Isadora sensed his position through the link of synergy and activated the natal treasure—the purple card.
She was already regaining her true memories and Varian's words before entering the vortex played like a loop.
'Even if we fight and win that thing, we'll lose. The goal is not to fight, the goal is to enter the barrier. And to face the Imm—the evil prince, we need the holy squad intact.
Let's agree on a bunch of relative co-ordinates. Once I get there, you can use my position to lock the beast and—'
Boom!
The power of slivers surged out of nowhere and slammed the giant on its back. Against the unexpected attacked, the giant was totally unguarded.
Kaa!
The huge blue crystal cracked and the giant jumped onto its feet, focusing entirely on Varian.
And when that happened, the still 'rocks' jumped onto their feet, turning into vicious reptilian beasts and charged.
Using the golden opportunity Varian created by using himself as the bait, Isadora activated the purple card.
The space around the beast twisted and a crack opened, intending to take it to a far away location.
Kaa!
The beast resisted fiercely and the blue crystal on it glowed. It's about to fire that powerful laser beam.
Boom!
A powerful soul attack struck the creature right before it could discharge the beam and destabilized it for a brief moment.
That was enough.
With an unwilling gaze, the creature was teleported to a far away location.
Wasting no time, Varian kicked the ground and jumped into the sky, flying hundreds of miles high in a blink.
All the creatures on the ground followed.
The holy squad shot forward and blasting away the few enemies that blocked their way, they successfully entered the barrier.
"Fuck, that was mad!"
"Who is that genius lad?"
"Is he a monster?"
Boom!
Varian crashed to the ground and rolled before coming to a halt.
"Huff! Huff! Huff!"
Breathing heavily, he checked whether the holy squad made it in one piece before letting out a smile.
"Let's get ready." Isadora helped him up and instructed the group.
"I never thought the squad would survive to participate in the sealing, it's an honor." The hammer warrior said.
Isadora unsheathed her sword and shook her head with a wry smile.
"Not too soon."
A powerful aura filled the sky.
