When his vision turned normal, Varian found himself being pulled towards a giant light in a luxurious setting.
Varian could barely make out the structure of the place he was heading towards.
But he managed to figure out that it was a giant circular stage. The stage was made of ominous red color.
Suddenly, Varian's eyes widened as he sensed a throne high on a platform with almost a hundred steps leading onto it.
'The Prince's Throne Hall.'
He recalled the words of the voice. Thankfully, there was no one on the throne. If the deva prince was really alive, Varian was certain the situation would turn terrible.
Szzz!
The 'thing' under him made a smooth sound as it moved in empty air. Varian looked below and sucked in a deep breath.
He was currently standing on a triangular metal piece that moved towards the circular stage, but under this triangular metal piece was…darkness.
Darkness that his supersenses couldn't penetrate. The darkness that his space sense failed to explore.
Varian's brows furrowed as an ominous feeling spread in his chest.
Shaking his head, he turned his head back to the circular stage.
Only now did he get the full view of the throne hall.
The floor of most of the throne hall didn't exist. Rather, it was empty and filled with the same darkness.
There were only two 'things' here.
The giant circular stage and the throne with stairs leading onto it.
As he observed the palace, Varian froze all of a sudden.
A few hundred meters from him, another man stood on a triangular metal sheet. His eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed to have expended a bit of effort in the previous trial.
But that didn't matter to Varian.
'Charles!'
Varian's eyes glowed as a fire lit up in his heart. However, he showed nothing on the surface.
'I'll let him live until I get the treasure.' Varian looked up.
There were almost no items in the throne hall except for the throne.
The throne itself was quite exquisite.
While the stairs to it were made of a beautiful red stone, the throne itself was carved out of a precious silver crystal.
It gave off a noble aura that went beyond anything humane. It was otherwordly, something that shouldn't exist.
But…
'It has nothing.' Varian's space sense explored the throne thoroughly. It had nothing special.
Not even a vibe.
'The throne is not the treasure…' Varian's eyes glowed as he searched for other things.
The circular stage had no items to be called a treasure. Looking up, there's only a mirror ceiling that reflected the floor.
The walls of the throne hall actually disappeared at some point!
Now all Varian could see was the stage, the throne in the endless darkness.
'Son of a…' Varian suddenly paused as his super sight locked onto a small cup on the left armrest of the throne.
'A cup? Hm?'
His space spread expanded and explored the small cup.
Made out of beautiful blue metal, the cup was actually something akin to a star treasure!
Varian rolled his eyes at the absurdity.
But regardless of his personal feelings, his space sense checked the cup thoroughly and suddenly paused.
There was a single drop of a crystalline blue liquid inside the cup.
Just a single drop.
But…
"Fuck!" Charles cursed all of a sudden as he sniffed towards the throne. Apparently, he too found something precious was present in the cup.
'…' Varian's expression darkened. 'Is he a dog to sniff that out? Oh, I forgot, he's not much different.'
After noticing the treasure, Varian naturally wanted to make the first move. He locked his space sense onto the throne and teleported but—
"Huh?"
His teleportation was blocked. He couldn't see what was stopping him or how, but Varian couldn't deny the sense of nostalgia.
The thing causing him this feeling, it was some all-seeing entity or close.
Like Abyss Will suppressing humans, this thing…it was suppressing his powers.
'Heaven's Will?' Varian's lips twitched.
'Are all my powers blocked?' A couple of checks from his other senses proved that they were working perfectly fine.
Then the only restriction was regarding the throne.
Varian's best guess was that the circular stage would provide a way to reach the throne.
"Hey!" A cold voice called out.
Varian turned his head and looked at his third most hated enemy.
Even though he didn't know what was the benefit of that blue drop, Varian decided to win it first before sending this guy to his little brother.
If they fought now, while Varian was confident in winning, he would lose the chance to win presumably the most important treasure of the ruler's abode.
"Hey? Are you deaf?" Charles' cold voice was piercing.
"Would you ask a deaf person if he's deaf? For a young genius, you are quite silly." Varian maintained the image of the old man and laughed.
Charles wasn't laughing.
"…Are my jokes out of this generation?"
"Who are you?"
"Pardon?"
Charles' took a deep breath and his aura filled the air. "The ones who pass the trials in the doors are sent here. How did you manage to come here so fast?"
"…Are you saying there is no one who should be your equal?" Varian's lips curled up.
"…You can't even beat a high level 7. It makes no sense." Charles didn't respond to his provocation and instead emphasized his point.
"And don't even say it's luck. There's no such thing as luck there." He cut off an excuse Varian was planning to use and asked again, in a deep voice.
"So, who are you?"
"…" Varian continued to smile but his eyes long stopped smiling. He viewed Charles with an indifferent gaze akin to how one viewed an ant.
Looking at those indifferent eyes, Charles' blood boiled. "…Are you him?"
"Who?"
"Dreamer?"
"…Dreamer what?" Varian raised a brow in confusion and looked at Charles like he was a retard. "You okay in the head? You think Dreamer won't use his ghost ship or shit?"
"I—" Charles suddenly froze as if he was slapped.
Varian continued to give him the look used for mentally retarded people and continued. "You Xanders hate him, but doesn't he also hate you? If he sees you, he would rush at you, break your bones, and torture you until you cry mama and papa, right?"
Charles glared at the old man who cursed him without actually cursing him and nodded stiffly. "Right."
"Then the fuck you think I'm that guy? You think no one has any secrets? I have my secrets. Your dad has his secrets. You have your secrets. Let's not try to poke into each other's secrets and be decent human beings, ain't that right?" Varian smiled and his gaze softened.
Even though his words were somewhat coarse, Charles felt that they made sense.
In fact, since he knew that his talent was actually 'given' to him, his self-esteem was terribly hit. He swore to bury the secret.
That's why Varian's words managed to actually make him ashamed.
Of course, he had no intention of apologizing. Being suspicious wasn't a bad thing.
But in return, he decided not to kill the old man if they fought.
'…Now I can play slowly and win the treasure before killing this bastard.' Varian's lips curled up and his eyes shone with a cunning glint.
'My plan is perfect.'
Varian snickered as the metal sheet finally reached the circular stage.
{Welcome.}
A pleasant voice sounded in their heads.
{You're under the watch of the prince. To show deference to his highness, your realm shall be restricted to early stages of rank 3.}
Varian felt an invisible force entering his body before disappearing.
Rank 3 of devas meant level 7, level 8, and level 9.
So, the restriction here meant their levels would be confided to be level 7. Since he was a level 7 normally, it didn't matter to Varian.
Then, another announcement followed.
{Attack talismans and such are prohibited. The Prince only wishes to view the perfect match.}
'Wait, match?' Varian's brows rose.
{Fear not, for the prince isn't generous. If you wish to quit, just say it out. You will be teleported to the royal garden. However, quitters won't be allowed to the prince's hall ever again.}
'…Uh-oh' Varian was starting to get a rough idea of the whole thing.
{But fear him, the prince wants blood! To win, you need to either kill or throw someone out of the stage.}
'…It sounds like both of them are equivalent.' Varian looked at the endless darkness below him and shuddered.
Unknown, were after all, the most terrifying.
{The winner will gain the recognition of the prince.} The voice announced with pride.
'The prince is dead though.' Varian's jaw dropped at the stupid prize no one wanted.
"Roaa!"
Varian turned around to see Charles. The man already landed on the stage a few seconds ago.
Now, he's in the form of Lykos. He reached the end of the stage and faced the throne.
He pushed his legs and it was clear that he was about to jump.
But…
"Roaa!"
His legs continued to shake, but nothing happened for the next few seconds.
In the end, Charles gave up and transformed back to his human form.
'There's a restriction preventing us from reaching the throne.' Varian's face darkened.
The real treasure was on the throne and no one could reach the throne.
The fuck!
As if sensing his discomfort, the voice added at the end.
{The prince will personally honor you. Cheer up, Warrior!}
'Personally?'
{Yes, he will stand up from his noble throne and pat you on your shoulder. Isn't that the most honorable thing in your life?}
'…Yeah.' Varian's eyes brightened.
For the prince to pat his shoulder, he, the participant needed to climb up.
That means…the winner would be able to reach the throne.
Tap!
As he reached the stage, Varian jumped.
'Alright, I just need to stall time and let everyone fight to take advantage…' He thought in mid-air as his body moved closer to the stage with each milli-second.
'Now, my plan shall—'
Tap!
"Huuuuh?"
The moment Varian landed on the stage, an invisible pressure descended on him, to be precise, on an entity inside him.
The next thing he knew, the aura of his divine paths that were usually hidden exploded in glory.
The auras of the Superhuman path, Space Path, Lightning Path, Plantae Path, Psychic Path, Telekinetic Path, and Water Path.
Varian's body emitted all the auras as if the dams broke.
Like a man electrocuted, Varian frozen in shock as he felt a fierce fight in his body.
"Whaa—" Charles' eyes widened and without hesitation, he retrieved the treasure he won.
A one-time treasure with a single ability.
'Nullify disguise!'
Whoosh!
A bright light covered the area and the old man's face vanished, replaced by the face of a young man Charles knew very well.
"You son of a bitch!" Charles growled as a thick killing intent filled the air.
Every bit of his anger added up and with nothing but vengeance in his sight, Charles morphed into Lykos.
"Roar!" Kicking the floor, he jumped onto Varian with bloodshot eyes.