BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The fighting between Varian's body and the twins grew more and more intense with each passing second.
With himself in control, it shouldn't have been that hard to defeat them. But as a 'soul' doing 'body control' and for the first time, Varian's combat effectiveness dropped significantly.
As a result, even though he used all his powers, he couldn't gain upper hand over the twins.
On the other side, Catherine wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth and opened up a black pouch.
The phantom of a large green unicorn neighed at the Old Patriarch and flashed forward. It passed through him before he could even react and splintered into particles of light.
"W-What was that?" The Old Patriarch felt no difference and glared at Catherine.
Catherine curled her lips.
Thump!
Thump! Thump!
The Old Patriarch's heart began to beat abnormally and a sense of dizziness suddenly struck his mind.
A searing pain gnawed at him from the—
"You bitch!" Looking at the rotting flesh in the wound that Varian gave him, Old Patriarch cursed in fear and rage.
The Unicorn phantom was the manifestation of a Famine's power. It wasn't very powerful combat-wise. But if the opponent had an injury, it'd suck out the vitality from his body through that wound. The bigger the injury, the better the suction.
The Old Patriarch gnashed his teeth and pointed his finger at the princess.
The Princess' body twitched like a fish out of water as an invisible current coursed through her body.
New currents of dangerous lightning appeared inside her body as her blood, organs, and aura were manipulated to form something akin to a battery.
Catherine endured the searing pain and dodged the dozens of lightning spears that almost succeeded in impaling her.
Fighting rank 3 as a rank 2? Even if that rank 3 was severely injured, even if she had some good treasures equivalent to that of a rank 3 attack, it wasn't easy.
The difference between each rank was seriously high for anyone to even consider fighting across the rank.
Perhaps except for Hybrids who could barely fight a rank 3 newbie for a while as a peak rank 2.
But crushing opponents up a rank?
Only one man…
"Arghhh!" Varian's body swirled like a top to the left, letting Helga's fist just graze his cheek.
Even though it was just a graze, the skin on Varian's skin split open and his flesh was blown apart, directly revealing his cheekbone.
Varian's fist also barely managed to graze Helga's back. But Varian in his soul form didn't show any panic.
Because Helga's attack was purely physical while his…
"Arghhh!" The skin on Helga's neck suddenly blew up as her blood boiled and her muscles rotted away.
Her blood boiled as Varian used the power of energy and increased its temperature. Her flesh which should've been resilient against Famine's powers gave away easily as it was manipulated using Varian's matter powers.
The combination of three attacks instantly created a big injury on Helga's neck, almost killing her on the spot.
She tried to remove Varian's powers instantly but a spirit power struck her soul and the time flow of his powers increased.
"Sister!" Hagen tried to help her out but the space around him froze for a moment and bought Varian enough time for him to grab Helga and teleport away from her brother.
Helga didn't give up even if she was facing a serious injury and punched Varian right in his heart.
Varian's body shifted slightly in the last moment and instead of taking a hit on the left side of the chest, he ended up taking it on the right.
Kacha! Boom!
Varian's bones cracked away under the tremendous strength and a huge cavity appeared in his upper chest.
It was a bloody, gory, and bone-chilling sight.
Even in his soul form, Varian clutched his chest in pain. "She's still so fucking strong."
Despite his surprise, his actions remained swift and ruthless.
Right after Helga's fist connected, Vines grew out of Varian's fingers and pierced through the wound on Helga's neck and numerous others on her body.
"Huh?" Helga's body stiffened for a moment and then she felt a huge suction pulling at her very being.
Helga's middle-aged face wrinkled in a blink and Varian's big injury closed up as if she didn't just put a big hole in his chest.
"F-Famine too?" Hagen who just reached them stopped in place as his face paled at the realization.
His blazing anger cooled down and he was suddenly more aware of his surroundings.
A white barrier was covering them since the beginning. However they fought, they never stepped out of this barrier.
It made sense. Since they witnessed a man wearing so many powers, he must've wanted to silence them forever.
And since he had so many powers, perhaps it's really possible…
"S-Sister, let's escape! Once we reveal his secret, even the Kingdom will chase him down! He can't survive!" Hagen yelled.
Helga's eyes, now with only two pupils but still brimming with hatred, also calmed down at her brother's words.
She backed off from Varian and sneered at him with a mocking gaze. "You might still live if you fight us, but once your secret is out, you're as dead as the gods."
Cleverly, the twins went in different directions. Varian could stop one at most, but the second?
Even with teleportation, without his soul inside his body, he wouldn't be able to do anything.
Varian's body blocked Hagen from retreating. Instead of panicking, Hagen yelled with joy. "Go, Sister! End this bastard's life! Make him miserable!"
Helga reached the end of the white barrier with an excited smile.
She's here! Almost out! Just a little bit!
As her fingertips touched the white barrier, it suddenly turned black.
BOOM!
Helga who was completely focused on escaping at the fastest speed was caught off guard by a tyrannical chaotic power that flooded her body.
Her own aura went chaotic, as did her body and blood. Instead of flowing inward, her blood began to flow out. Rather than helping to protect her inner organs, her aura began to attack them. Her organs couldn't function properly and fluctuated wildly as if someone was continuously turning them on and off.
Helga's body trembled violently and she was blown back by a violent force.
Varian dropped Hagen's headless corpse and teleported.
As his eyes shone with calm anger, he raised his hand. As if it was all planned, Helga's neck landed right in his hand.
Kacha!
Like her own brother, Helga lost her head and ended up as a headless corpse.
"That was scary…to think rank 3 spirits could separate souls from body." Varian clicked his body and snapped his fingers.
All traces of suspicious auras were erased from the site and the barriers disappeared.
Standing in the far distance was a bloodied Catherine on her knees, about to be roasted alive by a large lightning hand.
"Fuck!" Varian wanted to save her but he's too far away.
A light flashed and a woman in black appeared in front of Catherine. She casually flicked her fingers and the giant lightning hand attack of the rank 3 Old Patriarch, even if he was heavily injured dissipated on the spot.
But it didn't end there. The shockwave from her punch reached the Old Patriarch and blew him into pieces.
"A-Akira?" Catherine raised her head and looked at the woman with surprise.
"It's been a while, Princess," Akira said but her gaze remained on Varian. "Thank you for saving the Princess, Hero. I'd like to visit the Duke to get the treatment you deserve. Centaurus really 'honors' its saviors."
[Akira
Adept: Rank 4 ]
Varian checked his own status.
[Status:
Mystic Rank 1: 99/100
Famine Rank 1: 99/100
Spirit Rank 1: 99/100
Space Rank 1: 80/100
Time Rank 1: 80/100
Energy Rank 1: 90/100
(Lightning)
Matter Rank 1: 90/100
(Water)
Remarks: No, don't think about it. You can't even take a punch from rank 4.]
"Hero?" Akira called out when he wasn't responding and her body flashed forward.
Varian couldn't even catch her movement when she appeared in front of him, just an arm's length away from him.
Even though it scared the hell out of him, Varian maintained his indifferent expression.
He didn't know if she wanted to build a good relationship with him or kill him for her own reasons.
If it's the former, he's more than happy. But if it's the latter, even though this woman was strong enough to kill him instantly, she'd know that killing an unknown person with the strength of peak rank 2 in her Duchy wasn't really a smart thing.
From what Varian heard in his time here, it's not uncommon for entire cities, even planets to be punished by a powerhouse because someone important to them was killed.
If Varian wasn't from a big background, it's fine. But what if he's really from one?
Most importantly, he let a rank 4 take action against the Ancestor of Havocs and was responsible for the death of a rank 4.
Ignoring the possibility of him being backed by rank 5s or even rank 6s, just the fact that he had a rank 4 helping him was enough to retrain the woman.
"You haven't answered my question."
But of course, she'd only not kill him.
Akira looked into his eyes with a smile that wasn't really a smile. "You are coming to meet the Duke, right? Right?"
"Yes. I'd been looking forward to meeting the Duke of Centaurus."
Varian still had to be careful.
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