Carnage.
That was the single best word to describe what happened after the human armed forces caught shadow forces off-guard.
There were corpses floating in space. The majority of them were level 7 and most belonged to shadow forces.
Of course, some soldiers also breathed their last in this heroic battle.
Each secret realm that used to be a single piece of land was all pieces of big islands floating in space.
It was like someone chopped off the land into many pieces. The battles continued on these islands.
Lives fell like dried leaves under the barrage of attacks.
As level 7 fights entered the final session, the level 7 shadow forces made a last-ditch attempt to flee.
Of course, the last batch of survivors had peculiar treasures—offensive or defensive.
They sacrificed their treasures to buy themselves an escape.
In response, the soldiers swiftly chased them and killed the escapers. In a few minutes, the last level 7 of the shadow force was killed.
At the same time, the level 8 fights, which should've taken way longer were also on the verge of ending.
The bald man, who claimed himself to be an Athena agent played a huge role in the battles, essentially spearheading it.
He was the reason the casualties were much less than they were supposed to be.
Unlike the level 7 counterparts, the level 8s didn't try to flee. Instead, they launched one last desperate attack to bring down as many soldiers as they could.
And took fifty lives with them.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Seth panted heavily as he stood on a ruined floating island.
His shirt was long ripped to shreds and marks of various attacks ranging from scorched skin to frozen icicles, from depressions on the chest in the shapes of fists to trails of swords inches below his split skin, showed his valor.
"L-Level 9s," Seth muttered. Right then, a wave of shockwaves hit him. The floating island under him trembled.
While he himself didn't feel any discomfort, those shockwaves were lethal to mid awakeners.
"How long is it gonna take?" Seth glanced into the distance. A few dozen miles away from him, silhouettes blurred and lights flickered, leaving behind only what could be called instantaneous appearance and disappearance.
The space continued to shake under the mighty thunders, unforgiving fires, indifferent ice, and heavy rock.
The punches by level 9 destroyed floating islands like they were sandcastles.
Huge plants and peculiar monsters showed their might as terrifying mind powers swept across the place.
If these battles occurred on Valos, the city would've been destroyed. No amount of defensive measures could've helped.
Tens of millions of lives would've been lost.
Thankfully…
As Seth sighed in relief, his perception picked up a figure blasting towards the level 9s at breakneck speed.
Just his presence caused a few level 9s to pause their battles and look in his direction.
"W-Why is he here?" Seth gulped.
Boom!
A man with long white hair and a thin build appeared in the territory of the level 9s.
"Who are you?" An army officer asked vigilantly. Despite being a general and level 9 himself, he felt tremendous pressure coming from the man.
It was like standing in front of a mountain. Without meaning to, the general clenched his fists and signaled his orders to his men.
If this man turned out to be hostile, then they'd need to leave.
Every level 9 was an asset to the federation. They couldn't be allowed to die here.
Anyway, the army from planetoids would be on their way here.
If…if worst comes to worst, he'd sacrifice himself and buy others time.
"Who are you?" The general repeated.
The man didn't respond, instead, he sized up everyone on the battlefield. Naturally, there were only so many level 9s. So, he was done in a few seconds.
"Did the prince send you? Or the queen?" Draven asked, covering the bloody hole on his chest.
The man didn't answer. His aura simply climbed higher and higher. Every level 9 in the field stopped their fights and turned to him.
The leader of chaos families and leader of the Shadow Order branch looked at him with expectations.
They were the strongest here. Yet, they could feel the difference in the strengths just through his aura.
"You." The man finally spoke, his voice embedded in aura spread far and wide, even in space.
"You should obediently die." Saying those words, his figure disappeared.
The next moment, he appeared in front of a Chaos family head and grabbed their neck.
"Stop!"
"Dare you!"
"Attack him!"
The other three quickly attacked him, before anything tragic could happen.
At the same time, the woman he lifted started turning into lightning as she thrashed against him and started burning his hand.
But the man simply clenched his other first, and 'heightened' his strength.
Boom! Boom! Kaa!
The shockwaves from his clench were enough to seriously injure level 7s and destroy small asteroids.
—Ka!
As the woman tried to escape, his face punched at the woman's head that was partially lightning.
Kacha!
The lightning disappeared, leaving a headless corpse in place.
"You three are next." His words caused every member of Shadow Order and Chaos families to shiver.
The three leaders fought hard. Very hard.
But in the end, they were completely overwhelmed.
Seth looked at the battles without blinking, so did others.
'If I can reach level 9, then I too…' He fantasized before shaking his head.
'Why is he sent here?'
Considering the fact that even without this person, the army would've won, but with a much heavier price.
Shadow Guardians wouldn't have interfered. After all, this person was very busy and was said to be taking crucial missions.
As far as he knew, only Enigma could order him.
Ah! So that's it!
Seth exhaled.
He was sent to ensure Varian's safety by Enigma. So, he was actually trying to find Varian first.
He should've confirmed Varian's safety, so he came here to help them out.
Seth recalled his pupil.
In white clothes, golden mask on a throne, exuding a dominance that far exceeded his peers.
Perhaps Varian might've thought his special spaceship was the only big reason for others to see him as Dreamer. Han Nial never questioned Varian's identity as Dreamer.
It wasn't just because of the weird ship. It was his…temperament.
Seth felt that when Varian put on the mask, he revealed his actual self. The boundless confidence, which almost seemed like arrogance, and a desire to do what's beyond normal and even deemed possible.
It's like…it's like he was interning to be a ruler.
"My pupil, who the hell are you?"