The war continued.
Blood flowed into rivers, bodies piled up into mountains.
The war continued.
Varian's gaze rested on the human soldiers for a moment before he looked at the sky.
Just how many people died?
'System, am I responsible for their death?'
[What if you are? What if you aren't? Would you have cancelled the mission if you knew about these deaths?]
Varian thought for a moment before he shook his head resolutely. 'No. Not after I saw the guy in the lost dungeon. He is much stronger than the Abyss Kings. Boo also said he was in…Celestial Rank.'
His breath turned heavy as he recalled the horror of that figure.
Varian used to believe Abyssal Rulers—Abyssal Kings and Queens were the ultimate challenges to peace.
If he became a Sovereign, then everything would be solved.
But with that Abyssal's existence…their plans were futile.
His strength was too high. Even a Sovereign was no match for him.
Varian had the resolve to bring peace. But if it was not backed by the strength, it would merely be a wish.
'Even if I have to sacrifice more lives, I will. Deaths of some or extinction of an entire race, I know how to choose.'
The System fell silent for a while before it answered. [No, host. This was going to happen regardless. You just happened to join.]
'Hm.' Varian nodded lightly and ended the dialogue.
"Boo, take me to Sarah."
The next moment, he disappeared and ghost ship flew straight into the air in its invisible mode.
Varian relaxed sat in the cabin and asked. "Give me the visuals on the cadets."
"Yes, Master."
Soon, Varian saw the battles of all cadets.
The one that impressed him the most was Charles.
Charles' transformed into a demi-wolf. Varian recognized it to be a wolf from Old Earth's mythology.
In that form, Charles had almost no weakness.
He alone was fighting off against four peak Level 6, ten high Level 6 and many others.
Despite their numbers, Charles was pushing them back.
'Fenrir, the wolf, huh.' Varian clasped his hands and rested his chin on them. 'Once he reaches Level 7 and can transform into it fully, his power would take a leap.'
Some entities were indeed too powerful.
Narcis' transformation was not so strong, but Charles was in another league altogether.
"This is for later." Varian shook his head and checked out others.
Williamson was doing fine. It looked like he'd take them down in a couple of minutes.
Sarah was fighting against a bunch of high level 6s and around a dozen level 5s.
Varian was relieved at her safety and turned off the comm.
"Boo, can you disable the jammer?" He tapped the armrest of his chair and asked with a frown.
The extra level 5s were too many.
Even if Charles and others wanted to help, they would already be tired from battling assassins.
Not everyone was like Varian.
He spent most of his space power dodging the Abyssal. But when he advanced to Level 4, his space power was replenished to the brim.
Varian's thoughts spun as he realized something.
The Demon Abyss must have splurged astronomical resources to push so many Abyssals to the next level. The result was these extra Level 5s and level 6s.
Perhaps some of them were transferred from other planetoids, but majority of them were stationed on this planetoid.
So all along, Abyssals were planning this.
They knew the Academy's plan to send the cadets to intercept the Astors' and counter planned.
The resources spent on forcibly advancing so many Abyssals might exceed the importance of the planetoid itself.
So there was no chance they were going to let this mission fail.
"Gulp!" Varian patted his chest and muttered. "I hope I'm not overthinking things."
But the incentive was too high.
This planetoid held the brightest geniuses of Earth. There was also a cadet that was destined to be a Sovereign—Charles Xander.
The others would likely reach level 9 and become pillars of humanity.
Such a nice chance…
"Boo, can you crack the jammer a bit? Just for one person?" Varian asked as he sweated profusely.
His comm was buzzing but he didn't care.
If the Abyssals were really bent on taking down these geniuses…
"Master, you can send a message to your contacts. If you give me thirty minutes, I can open full communication chann—."
"No, it's good. Open Master's profile." Varian said anxiously.
His comm was shining as it vibrated continuously.
He glanced at it irritatedly. It was Sarah.
He frowned and was about to —
"Master, the contact is open." Boo said and a complicated panel appeared in front of him.
Varian took a deep breath and said. "Master, Emergency! All of us are trapped! There is a jammer blocking off our signals and sending fake signals. I'm using a secret method.
Right now, the situation is still stable. But the stronger Abyssals will soon learn of the situation here.
If they make the first move, we're good as dead.
Send someone really strong.
If you don't want the hope of humanity to die, send someone really strong. Actually, come by yourself."
After speaking, Varian clutched his forehead.
Boo, on the other hand was bewildered. "Master, isn't asking a Level 9 to come in person too much?"
"Too much?" Varian rolled his eyes. "These people are literally the future of earth. At least Charles and there's also Sarah. There's also me. Two potential Sovereigns.
The Abyssals are crazy enough to send their Emperor's clone to fetch you. Why can't they a high awakener to kill us all?"
"Eh…usually, the villains in novel don't do that." Boo scratched its white head. "They should wait until you guys grow up before they challenge you."
"Duh." Varian facepalmed. "If I was the Demon King, I'd at least assassinate Charles."
"…"
Varian ignored Boo's silence as he finally got the time to check his comm.
Except for a few contacts, he put all others on silence. Boo would inform him if they're in danger. It didn't.
So who the heck was contacting him anyway?
Varian opened his comm and saw it was Sarah.
"What happened to her?" The long list of messages worried him prompting him to order Boo. "Open the surveillance on Sarah."
The holograph popped up and Varian froze for a moment.
Sarah was injured all over. Her beautiful blonde hair was stained with blood as she knelt on the ground.
Her lips opened as if she wanted to say something before they closed. Slowly, tears dripped down her cheeks and turned into snowflakes.
Varian found himself in a daze before he heard her yell in his comm.
"Junior Varian! If you don't report, I'll publish your tomb secret to everyone!"
He was snapped out of his stupor by her words. Before he could reply, the scene around her captured his attention.
Boo quickly filled in the information about her actions in the past five minutes.
Varian also checked his comm and saw every single message was asking about him.
'Why? We barely knew each other since a month. Most of the time, I was in the lost dungeon.' Varian's thoughts spiraled.
His face showed a mix of emotions, but he maintained his normal voice and replied in a grumpy tone. "Sarah, I told you what's written on the tomb is fake, didn't I?"
...
A/N: Yay! 200 Chapters. Thank you everyone for your support! Please leave a review and share your thoughts on the story so far.. If you like or dislike anything, please be specific, I'll try my best to work on it. :D