[Host, don't be so disheartened. If you can reach peak rank 2, then you to—]
"Shut up." Varian stood up from the crater he formed upon crash and looked through the dust around him.
His gaze was gloomy and his face solemn. It's as if he was a cold killer ready to destroy anything in his path.
What didn't match his appearance was his trembling hands. And the scent of fear his soul eminated.
[The God Emperor is th—]
"Logos, please stop." Varian kicked the ground with more force than necessary and shot up into the sky. He stopped just short of Elysium's barrier, crossing which he would be back into the real world.
His body shuddered as it realized it was on the verge returning outside, to the world where God Emperor resided.
Varian tried to push down that fear. But just the remnants of the power his body and soul were exposed to during that brief moment was enough to put a deep scar on them.
Taking a few deep breaths, he stabilized his mind that started going into chaos.
"He's dead, isn't he?" Varian took out the broken medallion and asked.
[…] Logos did not answer for a moment before sighing. [He is gone.]
"Hmm." Varian couldn't even recall the moment correctly. The speed of rank 2s was too fast for his senses. He saw Aphosis vaguely and then he saw that glowing silver phantom. The eyes of the phantom in his imagination turned to him and Varian's breath stopped for a moment.
"Fuck! Fuck!" Cursing incessantly, Varian observed the land to distract himself.
The vast expanse of the world under him looked like a cut from the paradise. Flourishing plains, great forests, mighty rivers, aloof snow mountains and sea of flowers.
Elysium.
Unlike its counterpart Purgatory which was full of death, it was full of life. In each of these regions, there were millions upon millions of creatures. And like in Purgatory, a potent life force was present everywhere, playing a critical role in helping the existing life and creating the new.
The aura concentration itself was tremendously high and was one of the major factors for having thousands of divine creatures here.
"This place allows only those below rank 2. Even sending your clone inside is impossible." Varian patted his chest to assure himself but it only made him realize how hard his heart was thumping.
The whole thing was very difficult for him to digest. He made a lot of progress in a matter of weeks and reached the peak of rank 1.
No, not even him. It's just his clone.
"There should be a way. There is a way. I'll make one." Varian set his sights on Elysium.
If he remembered it right, then there's a myth of this place. He learned it from Klynster of Purgatory but he sensed it from the floating memories of Elysium as well.
{He who conquers the three regions will reach True Divinity.}
The wordings were a bit different in the Purgatory and Elysium but that's the original myth more or less.
Since this was a forbidden region left behind by Primordial God himself, Varian began to think with hope. "Logos, does it mean this place holds the key to reaching rank 3? All Primordial Gods are rank 3, aren't they?"
[…I do not know.] Logos said in an honest tone. [The affairs of Primordial Gods is something no one except them knows.]
Varian didn't like the answer but given the clues, he felt that it's indeed possible for this place to help one reach rank 3.
And if he could reach rank 3, then facing God Emperor would be…
The trembling hands of Varian stabilized and his eyes glowed with brilliance. He still felt scared but if he had a way to solve the fear, he's going to face it head on.
As he's about to plan his next step, a thunderous voice shook the sky while a powerful aura locked him.
"Hey you! Who are you, standing over the heads of Obsidian Giants?" It's a being whose dimensions were comparable to a little moon. And there were dozens of such beings in the surroundings nearby.
"Ah, a native." Varian smiled. "Ignoring my words? Do you want to di—ssss!"
Varian put a finger on his lips and the obsidian giant's mouth voice stopped. It struggled fiercely to open its mouth, but no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't fight against the invincible forcing that made it dumb.
"Speak what I want you to speak and you'll be left alive, nod if you agree."
Nods. Nods. Nods. The obsidian giant nodded vigorously without even trying to put up a brave front. Its kin who were watching their leader who bragged about taking down the intruder lowered their heads in shame for having obeyed such a spineless guy.
Varian's eyes flashed gold with the power of soul and the giant could finally open his mouth.
Holding his hands in respect, he waited for the question and the question nearly gave him a heart stroke.
"Okay, where and how do I challenge the guardian?" "G-Guardian?"
"Yes. Guardian with G."
The obsidian giant's fearful expression vanished and he looked at Varian with anger. "You can kill me but you're not getting anything out of my mouth."
Even the weaker kin behind him looked at Varian with determination. They'd rather die than speak up. "I see." It was a surprising response and would've piqued his curiosity about this guardian any other time. But now, he just wanted to solve the problem and had no intention to waste time learning unimportant things.
Varian clenched his fist and the space from him all the way to the giants split into two.
Unable to face the wrath of the space storm that emerged out of the cracks, the obsidian giants fainted right away. But the controlled power didn't kill anyway though it did give them some painful injuries.
Varian locked his senses onto an older giant who seemed to be on the edge of his lifespan and invaded his soul. It was an extremely disrespectful process for any place but he didn't even give a second thought about his actions.
He only took the information regarding challenging the guardian and pressed his hand down.
A barrier formed around the tribe and it would stay that way until they fully recovered. While he was pissed off by their stubborness, he didn't want to kill them for that, directly or indirectly.
[The guardian of Elysium, Angel of Life.]
Varian cut his palm and threw the blood into the sky while infusing it with life power as he chanted. "Angel of Life, descend into the world!"
The blue sky turned green for a moment before a heavy presence descended.