The sight of a dog chasing down a grown man and two grown women was what Varian encountered when he reached the edge of the tree's roots.
Putting it that way seemed a little weird. Sure, the dog had three heads. The man and women were exhausted from a life threatening battle, but still.
"Need some help?"
He didn't have to ask, the three ran towards him with desperate and almost...fanatical eyes?
"Woah, woah, I'm not running a cult. Change that expression!" Varian backed off and starting running back.
The royal heirs wanted to yell and call him to stop. But their throats were drier than a desert and speaking in their current condition might cause them to cough out blood than sound.
The reason they were even able to run was their body's instincts taking over control. As painful as their bodies felt, their instincts were clear that stopping meant certain death.
An unusual picture formed at the roots of the great tree.
A dog with three heads ran after three people. The three ran after a man.
Despite his antics, Varian's breathing was controlled and his expression was solemn.
Using Aether pendant, he sent a message right into Maria's head. 'What's the dog's strength and weakness?'
Maria nearly fell over at the sudden voice but thankfully, she was running on autopilot and avoided a disaster.
She didn't know any particular weakness. But she did know the strength. It's a damn cheat.
'It can grow back its heads!' Maria's voice screamed inside his head and Varian had to turn down the 'volume'. 'The grow back heads also let it regenerate some of its lost aura and stamina.'
'That's a nasty racial talent, alright.' Varian commented but didn't really mean it.
What would be really nasty was a trihound that could regenerate its severed head and all of the aura and stamina with it.
But this one had an imperfect regeneration—only some of aura and stamina was regained.
It was obvious from the start.
The dog was faster than them, slowly closing the distance. But the trio weren't even that fast in the first place.
Objectively, their speed was high. But for Varian, it's like a bunch of old men and women in a running race.
'I remember the dog was healed back to its peak. But they managed to beat it down.' Varian's lips curled up and he kicked the ground with his heal.
His silhouette blurred in the eyes of the trio and landed in between them and the trihound.
Confronted with his sudden appearance and his threatening speed, the Trihound reacted on instinct.
It dug its feet into the ground and slowed down before it could reach his attack range.
"Baw! Woaw! Aoo!" The three heads each growled differently, with the same intent.
Varian wriggled his fingers and approached his sword handle.
The Trihound narrowed its eyes, leaned back onto its backfeet, preparing to pounce on him and rip him to shreds.
Varian touched the handle and the hound jumped at him.
"If you're at your peak, I'd have a really hard time. But now, you're exhausted in mind and body."
The hound's threatening claws passed beside his neck—which they were aiming for and it's three razor-sharp mouths bit empty space above his head which he lowered just enough.
It was a display of extreme skill—dodging life-threatening attacks with the minimal of movements.
What people who were born a century earlier than him couldn't do, Varian accomplished with ease.
Without warning, his hands shot up, grabbed the thick, fused neck of the Trihound. Using the momentum of the creature that was rushing forward, he flipped in the air and slammed it on the ground.
"Ugkk, Aarkk, Ukkk!" The three dog heads spat out blood and saliva, as their back bones cracked apart and their neck got crushed.
"I always wanted to try this." Varian stood up, patting his hands.
The Trihound gathered its strength and was about to attack when he slammed his foot onto its neck.
"Now, now, don't struggle so much." Varian's palm covered the hound's head and a suction force enveloped its body.
The Trihound's vitality flowed out of its body and some of it joined him, enhancing his strength, healing his injuries and getting him back to his peak condition.
Varian pointed at the trio and three streams of vitality flowed out from the Trihound and started healing them.
In ten minutes, they were healed back to perfect shape and the Trihound was on the verge of death. But it didn't actually die.
It was now just a bag of bones with some loose skin, but somehow, its eyes still maintained clarity. It clinched onto the core of the vitality and maintained that final breath.
So, Varian did the job and smashed its three heads at once and then struck its soul, preventing any resurrection and revenge possibility.
As the Trihound's body dispersed into light particles, the royal heirs ran to him.
"Th..."
The words got stuck in their throat.
What should they say?
They abandoned him once already. And even here, when he was chased down by Reaper and Numan, they didn't offer any help. Instead, they were rescued.
Sohan shook off his guilt the fastest. He did it for the mission. If he was in Varian's plan, he'd have asked the team to do the same.
Bella shrugged and stared at the cosmic structure in the distance. She's going to jump in there sooner or later. She's likely going to die. Guilt at this time wasn't really helpful.
Maria struggled a bit before grinning at him. "I knew it, you wouldn't die no matter what happens."
"Oh,"
"You're more tenacious than a cockroach."
"Stop it." Varian sighed.
He didn't feel angry or betrayed by their actions. There was no bond of camaraderie in the first place.
But he might not stop himself from punching Maria if she kept making those comments that felt like both insults and praises.
"It's your mission place, right?" He pointed to the disc-shaped black-and-white spiral field.
The expressions of the three turned solemn and they nodded.
"Alright, good luck," Varian replied. "I'll get to the safe zone and take my leave."
Sohan gritted his teeth. "I know this is already excessive after all the help you gave us, but please, just this—"
"No." Varian was blunt and decisive. "I had my revenge. I'm satisfied."
"But the masterminds of the attacks are those two!" Sohan pointed to the cosmic structure and continued. "I don't understand why they showed such animosity towards you. Maybe you should know why such secretive spies from the Jai Empire want you dead."
Varian chuckled lightly and shook his head.
It was obvious for him now. He must've had a bounty on his head after messing with Miss Calamity's enemy. But it was scary that he was spotted even when he went from one corner of the galaxy to another.
It could just be a coincidence. Or maybe their power was so great that he was spotted.
Varian didn't want to think about the depressing possibility and shook his head. "I do want revenge on them, but I have more pressing matters. I wish you all survive."
The entrance to safezone was in the portals that appeared at the bottom of the roots. it was close to the cosmic structure and when Varian reached the portal, he had an unnatural feeling.
The artifacts on his body were now shaking violently, pulling him towards the structure. n0Velusb.C0M
Even then, Varian decided he'd rather visit this place later and check out the mystery involved.
But his wedding ring gave out a small but certain response.
Varian froze.
"No, you're kidding me."
He activated the wedding ring, poured his power into it, pushed its performance to the fullest. He could feel it a bit more clearly this time.
Sarah's wedding ring was nearby.
Varian's face paled and he walked to the confused trio with a lifeless expression. "Let's hurry."
"But didn't you just—"
"Hurry!"
And so they hurried into the cosmic structure.
Lost Spiral.
