There was a saying from Old Earth.
“It took years to build a reputation, but only a moment to break it.”
It didn’t matter if you were revered as a saint. It didn’t matter if you were the most loved human. It didn’t matter if you were the most famous star.
Just one moment.
And boom.
The reputation painstakingly built through months, years, and even a lifetime smash into smithereens.
The best living example was Enigma herself.
Despite the ignorant seeing her as the leader of a terrorist outfit, the ones that came in contact with the guardians saw her as a guardian in the shadows.
With each life that Shadow Guardians saved, with each battle they helped, with each accomplishment they made, her reputation rose.
Particularly after the Valos’ war, Shadow Guardians’ reputation reached an all-time peak in the elite communities.
Naturally, Enigma was the helm of that respect and admiration.
She garnered so much craze that there were some groups even debating publicizing her true deeds, despite the risk of angering the Xanders.
That was how much reputation rose.
But in the blink of an eye, it all crumbled like a sandcastle.
The savior of the world became the world’s enemy—the alien that was to be slain.
As the proofs came in one by one and evidence stacked up against her, Enigma turned from a sacred hero to the vilest evil.
People couldn’t digest this sudden change and it multiplied their hatred towards her.
Going from extreme admiration to extreme hatred was extreme. The quote really seemed true.
“It took years to build a reputation, but only a moment to break it.”
But Varian disagreed.
Unlike Enigma, Xanders’ didn’t build their reputation on months, years, or even a lifetime.
The strongest prime family’s reputation as a product of 500 years—the hard work of many generations.
If Enigma’s reputation was like fragile glass, then Xanders’ reputation was like tough steel.
A piece of bad news or two would hardly make a dent. Even if it was terrible news, it won’t crack the metal. And unless it was disastrous, the metal wouldn’t break.
In fact, even if the news was disastrous, there was a high chance that people would rather believe it’s false to keep up their original opinions.
“I can’t completely destroy the Xanders’ reputation.” Varian leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.
Contrary to what one might expect given his hatred towards Xanders, Varian seemed pretty laidback.
In fact, if one just went by his words and sight, they would think that Varian was on a vacation.
“They are too entrenched in the society to be wiped out in one blow,” Varian muttered, but his eyes didn’t lose their spark of ambition. Instead, they shone brighter, as it did his ambition.
“Even the mighty devas couldn’t last forever. What are the mere Xanders in comparison?” Varian smiled mockingly, his glee visible from the nasty smile on his face.
[Host, devas had a chance of lasting forever. At least, their leader. But it was the System that ended them. Shouldn’t the host be thanking System?]
“…Shut up! Why can’t I have a few minutes of self-reflection without you popping up?” Varian rolled his eyes in annoyance.
[…What a cruel host. The System didn’t hesitate when you wanted to lower your aura level or lock your path, yet you abandon the System right after using it.
Host, if you do this to any human woman, she’d call you a scumbag.]
“You!” Varian was dumbfounded. “Don’t joke around like that, my heart can’t take it.”
[The System merely made a suitable analogy.]
“Seriously, what the fuck happened to you? I want that emotionless, cold and stupid system back!”
[You get what you deserve]
“…” Varian opened his mouth to refute, but in the end, he simply waved his hand and ended the conversation.
Turning his attention back to his comm, he checked the status.
After confirming that the plan was almost set, he walked to a remote room.
Kree.
The door creaked open and Varian stepped into the darkness.
The darkness couldn’t stop his advanced senses. The body suspended in the middle by metal chains was more than visible.
There were also special bots circling around this body and injecting it with special liquids from time to time.
Ta! Ta! Ta!
Hearing the footsteps from the darkness, the body twisted fiercely and twitched, as if it wanted to call for help.
“Hmm…Hmm…” All the came out of the body’s mouth as a muffled groan.
His eyes started to lose focus and he felt the same dreadful feeling again.
No matter how many times he experienced it, it was horrifying.
Varian appeared in front of the man and the room lit up, causing Dr. Thomas to close his eyes forcibly.
Dr. Thomas’ body was now as bloody as one could. Bone breaking, tendons cutting, and scorching—everything was tried and tested on him.
“How have you been? Is the accommodation sufficient?” Varian asked with an innocent expression, causing Dr. Thomas to shiver fiercely.
Varian snapped his fingers and Dr. Thomas suddenly found himself able to talk.
“Y-You! You are going to die a gruesome—”
“I didn’t ask you to divine my future.” Varian shrugged as a dark
silence filled the room.
“Anyway, today is the day revenge against Enigma’s enemies begins. Varian declared a seemingly impossible event casually.
“Out of all the people who were responsible for today’s fiasco, you are one of the main culprits.
Collaborating with abyssals and sending the ‘tracker’ to those that betrayed Enigma.” Varian’s eyes chilled.
Dr. Thomas’ felt the pain course through his body and wished it all ended with a slice.
But no. Death was a luxury now.
“And you were the one who invented the bullshit space radar. If not for you, the Shadow Guardians’ secret realm wouldn’t have been discovered.”
Varian clenched his fists as he fought back the urge to blast the body in front of him to pieces.
“You made a mess about Enigma’s age. You made her miserable.” Varian’s eyes turned red as he snapped his fingers.
Whoosh!
A bot rushed towards Thomas and injected a special liquid.
“Haa!” Dr. Thomas’ world began to blur as he felt incredibly drowsy. Yet, he fought back this feeling with all his might. It was futile.
“Don’t worry,”
As his world began to blur and darken, Dr. Thomas heard Varian’s void.
“This is what you brought on yourself. Once you fall asleep, you won’t be you anymore. Your sense of self will die. So, try not to sleep.”
Varian said in a casual tone and walked out.
“Since we began with you, the rest can start.”