Chapter 1674 Limits  

Varian wriggled in the grass, slowly lifting up his broken body. The foreign power inside continue to wreck him and stall the healing process.

Despite his tremendous power, Varian couldn't easily erase it. So, he summoned the sliver of life and sliver of death.

"…Are you serious?" The angel's eyes widened as she looked at the green and red lotuses in disbelief.

She turned to him with a burning gaze, as if she wanted to hear his answer. But Varian only let the lotuses wash over him and heal him back to his peak before stretching his hand to the angel. "Give."

"No, no, no. Why do you even have the slivers?" The angel grabbed his palm with both hands and looked into his eyes with an intense expression.

To such disconcerted expression from the ever calm woman, Varian responded with a plain "…Give."

The angel opened her mouth, wanting to argue with him about something but looking into his blank eyes, she sighed and put the medallion in his palm.

"Just save yourself from dy—"

He already left. The angel shook her head. As the guardian of Elysium was an ancient being who watched over the lives of countless beings, witnessed the change of eras and faced the world with a positive outlook.

Even though Varian's first reaction upon meeting her was violence, reading Varian's temperment accurately allowed her to survive.

And even though Varian seemed to be seriously injured every time she reached him, he always kept his power ready.

If she even tried to attack, he'd strike first. Despite all the injuries, he was strong enough to survive a few seconds against her.

Those few seconds would be enough time for him to heal himself adequately. From then, it'd only be a matter of time to kill her.

Of course, the angel never had any thoughts of harming him.

"It'd be better if fewer people died." Ariel had seen too many deaths in her time as a guardian. Even though she helped as many as she could, almost everyone knew she died. She was respected all across Elysium for maintaining order and peace. But even with all her wisdom and power, she couldn't stop spurts of violence that would break out and claim lives.

If those deaths were inevitable due to the nature of living beings, the death of a contender aiming to challenge Nirvana was entirely avoidable.

"But a sliver holder is no ordinary matter."

Why would someone like that enter this place? And why would he take such risks?

"And both the slivers are under the command of a single being."

And he looked extremely dispirited. It can't be that he was chased by a rank 2 and fell here.

As the owner of two slivers, he would inevitably grow into a rank 2 powerhouse.

Even if he's chased here, he could leave this place covertly using the power of Elysium and Purgatory.

So, why did he stay? And why was he challenging Nirvana?

"I'll know. Soon." The angel was confident. She had seen many challengers of Nirvana. Even if they survived using the medallion method, they would stop soon. Even with all the boosts from Elysium and Purgatory, fighting against a rank 2 was just impossible.

This man too would accept the truth soon.

Or so she thought. "Give." Varian's body was as badly broken as ever. His eyes didn't show any confidence of his victory. There should be no way for such a person to challenge the enemy again. Yeah, he surely wouldn't do it again.

But. "Give."

The angel began to suspect if this man was crazy.

"Give."

No, he definitely was a crazy bastard.

"Give."

Ariel stretched her stiff arms and looked at the severely injured Varian with resentment.

In response to her gaze, Varian mobilized his slivers, as if he was wary of her.

"Urgh, this is the 103rd time!" Ariel slammed the medallion into his hands. "Can't you see? It's impossible!" Varian looked at her with a blank gaze. She couldn't see what he was thinking. Or even if he's thinking anything at all. And those eyes. Damn the heavens those eyes! They didn't have any confidence to keep going. But she could see it now. This man was in deep despair against something else. He's so hopeless that he saw the only way out to be Nirvana.

Even if the Spirit King crushed him every single time, he still treated that as the easier goal compared to what drove him here.

"What are you even up against?" At the 300th turn, she finally couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked. Varian's lost eyes gained focus and he clenched his fists. Even though she knew he was powerful, Ariel instinctively shivered at the power out from him.

Still, mustering her courage, she looked at him. Who could even make someone like this person despair so much?

Varian looked into her eyes deeply and said. "Aur De—"

The angel covered his mouth with her power, exclaiming. "Are you crazy?! Don't speak his name!" Varian flicked away the power and stretched his hand. "Give."

"…You can't keep doing this forever." Ariel spoke in a persuasive tone. Varian's gaze hardened. Ariel continued to speak what's on her mind. Others might've branded it a foolish move. But the wisdom accumulated over the years told her that Varian was the kind of person who would at least listen.

"I noticed the constant improvement in your condition. It stopped in the 135th round." Varian was reluctant to acknowledge the truth but he still nodded. [Dragon: 100/100 (+9)

Titan: 100/100 (+9)

Phoenix: 100/100 (+9)

Order: 100/100 (+9)

Chaos: 100/100 (+9)

Space: 100/100 (+9)

Time: 100/100 (+9)]

He should've broken into rank 2 already. He tried doing it multiple times. But the forbidden region, created by the Primordial God himself, barred any rank 2 from entering it. By extension, no one could reach rank 2 here.

Varian hoped to capitalize on his improvements and find a way to deal with the Spirit King. But he's already as strong as he could be and still failed miserably.

But he's not done yet. "Give." "Hey, will you at least stop? There's no improvement since the 135th time, you fight almost 200 more times with no more progress." Varian trembled lightly and growled like a beast. "Give!"

"…" The angel wanted to slap him in the face but even if she really tried, she wouldn't be able to pull it off. Cursing him under her breath, she threw the medallion carelessly. Varian vanished once again.

The angel decided to stop trying to even teach him. Any sane person would've stopped after trying a hundred times. Even considering his improvements, trying two hundred more times was stupid.

But even stupid people had their limits. How long could keep doing it anyway?

Ariel decided to wait until he gave up.