Varian''s rage caught everyone offguard.


    Even the spy duo thought he''d wait for his chance to attack them once they''re weakened.


    Varian did none of that.


    He kicked the floor violently and his figure shed forward. The sword in his hand swung like a violent mace and struck the guardian.


    The guardian raised its hand at thest moment and blocked his attack. In terms of pure strength, Varian lost out and as a result, he was sent back flying as if he was hit by a speeding truck.


    But unlike unawakened, things didn''t end with him crashing into the air.


    The space under his legs solidified, providing him a tform and Varian kicked it hard, using it as a springboard to bounce back.


    All six artifacts appeared on him, bringing his condition to the peak.


    The tip of the demon sword''s de glowed with a brilliant mix of seven colors, each signifying its own power. On top of these seven powers came twoyers of white and ck.


    The guardian sensed the danger and used its full power. The darkness on its perfectly symmetrical ck and white armor glowed and a heavy shield materialized, intended to block his attack. The white part glowed and a sword materialized, intending to kill him right after.


    Varian didn''t care.


    Something happened to Sarah.


    Did she die? Kidnapped? Why was her wedding ring even here?


    This guardian was lifeless. It wasn''t even an Undead. It''s like a lightning bird elementals used to create. A puppet of the owner. So, who created this guardian and why did they target Sarah?


    Varian wanted answers.


    BOOM!


    Space cracked open as an aura shockwave pushed back everyone—including ughter Shade and Hollow.


    The tip of demon sword glowed with the brilliance of a star and pierced through the full defense of the guardian.


    Layers uponyers of ck shield materialized, slowing down the sword but failing in stopping it.


    The tip of the sword dug into the guardian''s chest.


    "Krgggh!" The guardian screamed, its voice inhumane, rough and creepy.


    The white sword pierced through Varian''s chest, plunging straight into his heart.


    The guardian stared at him, it had a ck orb and white orb for eyes. And those eyes stared at him with hatred and rage.


    "Datsa Siarx Searq!" It spewed some gibberish and then punched him in the stomach.


    Varian flew back, rolling on the ground before stabilizing on a single knee. A gaping hole on his chest showed his thumping heart, now severed into two, but quickly healing.


    Blocking it off with his space power, Varian stood up and cracked his neck. Without sparing anyone a single nce, he jumped at the guardian.


    ughter Shade and Hollow, on the other hand, faced off the royal heirs with a half-astonished and half-disdaining expression.


    "How did you evene here?" Hollow asked.


    "That''s what we should be asking." Maria growled.


    Hollow scoffed, nced at Varian for a moment before turning to her. "Let that boy settle his issues while I finish you off."


    — — —


    Sarah was furious and scared. Right after the notification, two silhouettes in a weird ck and white bodysuit appeared and started attacking her.


    They weren''t humans, for certain. She doubted if they were even living. They didn''t give off any vitality.


    She managed to fight them off with the sudden strength boost she received. But something about them kept her on her toes.


    It was as if they could kill her at any moment. Unlike her husband, dancing at the edge of death''s doorstep wasn''t something she enjoyed at all.


    Adding to her woes, four more of these strange creatures appeared.


    Other than differing heights, they all had the same appearance. Even their swords had the same design of ck and white.


    They looked likeic characters but the danger they gave off nearly pushed her into despair.


    Then out of the neers, one weirdo stared at her with a furious beast.


    She could clearly feel that he wasn''t the strongest here. But somehow, he felt the most dangerous.


    He roared something in aliennguage and in a hoarse, creepy voice. And then he attacked.


    The first attack seemed impulsive outburst. Sarah too thought he got enraged for some reason and could easily kill him using his anger against him.


    Losing emotions in a battle was one of the worst mistakes you could do and it''s very, very likely to take your life.


    But it turned out, it was all an act.


    Perhaps his emotions were real. But the show of his impulsive attack? That was definitely a fake.


    Sarah realized this when he cleverly made some subtle but critical adjustments at thest moment. And then, he jumped on for the next attack! This one was the real attack and the killer move.


    The killer''s sword glowed with a brilliant white and ck light—just like his skin or bodysuit—and broke down all the shields she set up.


    Blood spilled out her chest and Sarah could feel the tear in her heart. If the sword stayed even for one more second, it''d have sted her heart off and killed her.


    "You, I''ll kill you!" Sarah warned.


    The two shed again.


    — — — —


    Maria, Be and Sohan retreated with injuries. This was their third failure.


    "You know, it''s time to stop pretending." Hollowmented.


    Princess Maria gnashed her teeth and looked at him like she was going to drink his blood.


    "There''s a reason we never tried to seriously kill you." He took out a scepter and raised into the air.


    Almost instinctively, Maria retrieved a green card from her storage ring. Be pulled out a silver bell and Sohan ripped out a red bead from his chest.


    Varian and the guardian stopped fighting and looked in their directions.


    An oppressive aura filled the space, a pressure far beyond rank 6 began to weigh down.


    Varian and the guardian struggled to move, desperately trying to resist the pressure.


    "Don''t bother, boy," Hollow scoffed. "I don''t even know what that guardian is supposed to be for? We were just ying with it and you got angry over what?"


    Varian gritted his teeth and tried to raise his sword against the guardian. It seemed like even in this situation, he was hell bent on killing it.


    ughter Shade chuckled for the first time. Narrowing his eyes, he said in a venomous tone. "You want to kill that thing so much? Then you can''t."


    A heavy pressure swept over Varian, freezing him in ce.


    "I''ll kill that thing in front of you, just to spite you. And then I''ll take you out of this ce, into a living hell."


    Leaving those ominous words, ughter Shade looked at Hollow with a pensive expression.


    Hollow lied. The reason they were fighting this guardian that had nothing to do this mission was something else.


    They both had one super artifact with one usage left. To defeat the monstrosity they''d face, they''d need that treasure.


    But if one member used that treasure and other didn''t, what would happen? The remaining treasure would be used on the other and kill him.


    ughter Shade knew he''d do it if he could and so would Hollow.


    They were teammates, but it''s only because of their respective bosses'' order. There''s no loyalty or camaraderie between them.


    Even brothers would turn again each other for the item they''d have to retrieve, much less members from opposite associations.


    The brief battle with the guardian was essentially a farce. They''re testing each othering out, wondering if there''s a chance to force the other party to use their treasure to kill this puny guardian.


    That way, they could use their super treasure to finish them off along with the monstrosity.


    Before they could decide anything, these annoying bugs popped up.


    But ughter Shade wasn''t really worried. He''d win. Like he always did.


    "Well, well, well," Hollow chuckled and looked up into the space. "I''ll stop beating beating around the bush. We are all here for one thing."


    The expression of the royal heirs crumbled and they were about to use their artifacts at once. ughter Shade took out a dice and another heavy pressure swept the space.


    Maria gritted her teeth but stopped trying to activate the card. Fighting now would only waste the treasures and make them lose the chance to retrieve what they came for.


    Hollow enjoyed the struggles on her face and announced in a grand voice. "Oh, Well Of Exchanges, I want to retrieve the leftovers of the Great Harvester. What is the price?"


    The ancient, emotionless and deep voice sounded.


    [Destroy his corpse.]


    As it said so, arge headless humanoid, whose head if it''s still attached, would be still as big as earth, materialized.


    The aura of a peak rank 9 filled the space.


    "You…" All hope from Maria''s face faded and she activated her artifact without hesitation.


    As did everyone else.


    Three vague phantoms materialized in front of the heirs while the scepter and the dice floated into the air.


    All five faced against the headless corpse.


    Five rank 9 auras filled the space.


    The corpse took a single step forward.


    An even more overwhelming aura rose and crushed those five auras.


    "DIE!"