It happened in a flash.
Numan's axe perfectly countered his sword strike and left him open to further attacks.
In a one-on-one, this wouldn't have mattered as Varian almost always regained his stance faster than his opponents. But in a two vs one, this was a grave danger.
Reaper, who waited patiently for the opportunity like a viper hiding in the bushes, didn't hold back any punches when he blasted two anti-vitality spears, one aiming for his neck and the other his heart.
Varian brought down his sword for a last minute parry but had the choice to block only one. He didn't really have a choice and protected his neck.
The anti-vitality spear's dark aura flared as it bounced back from the smooth unscripted surface of the demonic sword.
The other spear reached Varian's heart. The Crystal Armor—an artifact that did help considerably until then—had the time of its day as it forcibly shifted his torso by an inch.
Sparks flew in the air as the armor bounced off the spear. But it wasn't a normal spear attack from the start.
The dark aura had Varian in its proximity. The bounced back aura coalesced into a black mouth and inhaled deeply.
Varian's chest skin wrinkled and cracked apart before blood splashed out. His powerful heartbeat weakened considerably and a wave of sluggishness washed over the man.
It wasn't a total disaster but it was still an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position. Varian recognized the bitter reality and teleported away from the two hunters to take a breather.
Teleportation didn't buy him more than half a second for each blink as the two easily sensed and reached him.
Varian's injuries still healed in the ten seconds he gained before he was forced into an exchange of blows.
Rather than the Assimilator powers as usual, he raised his Adept powers.
The flow of aura in the surroundings imprinted itself in his mind. The vibrant aura of a multitude colors expanded like gas, flowed like liquid and consolidated like solid.
And then there was the aura of his enemies. Instead of viewing them through his sight or other senses, the aura sight gave a different experience.
He could feel the aura flowing in their veins, circulating throughout their body like torrential river before it left them and formed a formidable attack against him.
Varian turned his foot 90 degrees to the left and grabbed the handle of the sword with both hands, the sword's blade dangling right over his right shoulder.
The space around him loosened up, allowing his attacks to pass through easily, amplifying their power, but doing the same for his enemy attacks, putting him at risk.
The duo reversed their roles.
Reaper attacked first, letting the anti-vitality spheres blast Varian and break down his defenses, all to create a chance for Numan.
Varian exhaled lightly and his body blurred forward. His body bent and stretched in impossible angles, dodging all the attacks.
But by putting his focus on the dodge, he made himself open to Numan's attack.
The axe which seemed ready to split the sky crashed onto his back, cleaving into his back and digging deeper.
The tremendous force of the blow would've caused Varian to crash onto the ground if not for him shooting out his hands at the last moment and digging into Numan's shoulder with his fingers.
His fingers, reinforced by aura, tore through his flesh and gripped his bones.
Numan winced a bit but put more force into his axe, trying to cleave Varian into two.
Varian's grip on his shoulder bone tightened, cracking it open and digging into his bone marrow.
"I-If you think that's enough to distract me, you're mistaken," Numan smirked, content at finally getting back at Varian.
"T-There are no mistakes…" A single drop of green liquid flowed out of Varian's thumb's nail and entered Numan's bone marrow.
The moment the liquid touched his flesh, a sizzling sound rang in the void, followed by a blood-curling scream that would send even the veterans over the edge.
As Varian was about to teleport, two anti-vitality spheres pierced Varian's back.
"Numan!" Reaper touched Numan's shoulder but the moment his bone finger made contact, the elf melted into a gooey green liquid, stirring uneasy emotions even in the calm skeleton warrior.
Varian managed to teleport but couldn't do much as his vitality began to leak out, rendering him weak and his injury increasingly worse.
"Ugh!"
As he collapsed onto the ground, Reaper's footsteps reached him.
"Your death will make his worth it." Reaper forged a spear from his dark aura and aimed it at Varian.
No matter how cunning he was, with that amount of injury, he could no longer fight back. That's a death sentence when he's still under hunt.
The flames in Reaper's eye sockets flared with enthusiasm as the battle reached its apparent end.
He didn't mind Varian's desperate struggles. Nor did he suspect anything when the man started teleporting long distances away from the roots and practically reached the edge of the tree, back onto its trunk.
It all happened in thirteen seconds. Varian was still unable to stand or fight, his back injury had barely gotten better thanks to Reaper's anti-vitality balls hindering the regeneration. Compared to earlier, he was in a worse condition.
"Last words?" Reaper's spear aimed for Varian's heart.
"I don't just fight with my body." Varian's eyes glowed white and a barrier enveloped them.
Reaper didn't understand what the man meant but his senses which were relaxed until now once again started tingling.
'Leave!'
'Run!'
'You can't win him!'
Reaper's spear, which was supposed to take off like a missile and strike him in the heart, froze in place. Precisely, the space around it did.
"You!"
Reaper's jaw dropped and the skeleton warrior felt his worldview collapse right in front of his eyes.
Teleportation was something treasures could allow you. But this degree of space manipulation? That needed space power!
But he's an Assimilator…or was he an Adept?
There was little time for contemplation as the space around Reaper collapsed like a shattered mirror, swallowing the legs of the skeleton.
Without giving him any respite, his bones that were fiercely resisting the chaotic space in the cracks twisted around and broke out of the joint. Turning against their own owner, the bones stabbed him in the back.
Reaper couldn't understand. He didn't understand.
That just now was matter manipulation…
And there was more he couldn't understand.
His mind, which was famous for being calm even in the gravest of situations, was hit by unbearable pain, causing him to scream out for the first time.
He decided to escape at any cost. Not because he was afraid of death but because he deemed it way more important to report Varian's uniqueness than die to prove his undying loyalty.
But his hand's movements seemed to stretch forever. Even his storage ring's response time when he poured in aura extended to uncomfortable periods.
'W-Wait, is this…' Reaper noticed that everything around him was faster as if someone hit the 2X button.
'Time power!'
'Assimilator, Spirit, Space and Time? No, he isn't even a hybrid anymore!' The fire in Reaper's eyes blazed in fear and reflected the glowing red sword that shot towards the skeleton's neck.
Reaper sacrificed a few more bones into the space cracks decisively, dragged his anti-vitality black spheres to counter the incoming sword, and managed to retrieve the treasure to escape.
As he was about to use it, he felt a hand on his shoulder bones.
Reaper stiffened and before he could react, a suction of vitality, the same attack he always used on others, swept his body.
The skeleton warrior collapsed, no longer able to keep floating. With leg bones missing, he crashed onto the ground.
Varian didn't show a shred of mercy and activated Aether Pendant as well. A strong spiritual force started sucking away at Reaper's soul, adding to his woes as he struggled against vitality suction.
The skeleton thrashed on the ground, desperately trying to activate the escape treasure.
He was just an inch away from the treasure. But heck, the treasure could be activated by aura and didn't even need contact. Yet, a black layer of an unknown power covered the treasure, blocking off his aura!
A few seconds of desperation later, Reaper's bones lost their luster and turned into powder.
"Aaaah!"
Varian collapsed and covered his eyes with his hand, his head and body both pushing him for a desperate rest to compensate for the overload he put them through.
"T-Those guys might die if I don't go…" Varian crawled back onto his feet and sighed.
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