Divine Path System

Joshua clenched his fists and focused his senses on the man in front.

The world seemed to stand still.

The sand blowing from the island into the ocean due to Varian's aura seemed to slow down.

Granule by granule, it began to slow down until they seemed to freeze altogether.

The fierce winds no longer hit his battle suit. Instead, they seemed to pause.

Joshua poured out every bit of his strength and his body went taut.

'Now.'

The wind exploded and an invisible force shaped in the form of a fist reached his face.

Joshua raised his arm to block the telekinetic attack as he sidestepped to avoid a space blade.

With the sound of a paper tearing, the space where he previously stood was torn apart, revealing a grey fissure that quickly closed up.

'None of his attacks are very powerful.' The moment this thought entered his mind, Joshua realized why.

None of Varian's paths individually gave them trouble.

But it was the collective synergy that—

"Gahh!"

A sudden scream filled the air as red blood splashed on the ground.

'He's fighting five by himself.' Joshua glanced at five figures facing the steady figure.

Lightning spears flew out. Ice dragons roared. Mighty punches rained.

Varian was attacked by five of the strongest people of his level.

And didn't move an inch.

'Should I really kill him?' Joshua hesitated for a moment.

At the same time, facing the three abyssals and two Xanders, Varian raised his hand.

A lightning field enveloped him, surrounded by a sturdy ice wall reinforced by solidified space which was further strengthened by an invisible force.

The punches of Osbert, kicks of Vela, and spear thrusts of Trak only managed to reach the ice wall before they were repelled.

Even though they viewed it as a fight, Varian simply crossed his arms with a bored expression.

It was like an adult letting a baby hit him again and again.

On the other hand, Xanders had it much worse.

"Argh!"

Kai Xander screamed as blood leaked from her mouth. Even so, she pointed a finger at Varian and channeled all her space power.

"Y-You bastard! Don't look down on me!"

The space around Varian twisted slightly and contracted as if it was about to tear apart.

Even though Varian had his defenses up, Kai forcibly used her space powers to forcibly twist the space inside his defense barrier.

So, she had backlash and got injured. However, she was now able to blast the space apart and could inflict great damage on Varian.

Even under such a situation, Varian didn't try to protect himself.

Instead, he just glanced at Kai.

His pitch black eyes filled with burning fury met Kai's purple eyes.

"Huek!"

It was as if her body froze up and the world went white.

Kai's mind was assaulted by a psychic and she was forcibly pulled into an illusion.

She saw her deepest fear.

It was no longer Charles killing her for the grudge they had.

But a pair of pitch black eyes that told her that she was nothing.

No matter how much she struggled, she'd never be able to defeat him.

For he, he….

"Arghhh!" Clutching her head, Kai crouched down as the pain in her head turned unbearable.

At her level, she should be able to resist illusions, but facing the man who even killed her 'nemesis' Charles, the fear deep in her heart amplified the effect of illusions and wrecked her mind.

"K-Kai? What the fuck?" Without stopping to slash at the barrier with his sword, Axel called out.

"I…I'm f-fine…" Kai gritted her teeth as she slowly fought the illusion and regained her body.

Trembling from head to toe, she slowly got up when the air behind her exploded and a sharp invisible force reached her neck.

It was shaped in the form of a spear and clashed with the invisible but ever-present layer of 'space armor' on Kai's neck.

Even though Varian's telekinetic power was strong, it wasn't strong enough to pierce through Kai's space armor.

However, the spear's tip suddenly lit up with the lights of gold and blue.

The sturdy space armor broke like a common mirror and as the price, the lightning and water mana were depleted.

However, the invisible telekinetic force that still remained moved forward and touched Kai's neck.

Feeling the cold sensation behind her neck, Kai's face turned pale as death clutched her.

"Kai!"

When death seemed inevitable, she suddenly felt the cold sensation behind her neck vanish and heard a cracking sound.

Turning her head around, her eyes widened as she saw Joshua crushing the invisible spear.

"B-Brother…" The title naturally rolled out.

Kai suddenly felt regretful and ashamed for treating Joshua rudely. She owed him his life.

"T-Thank y—"

"Oh? You finally joined?" Varian's words cut her off.

Kai's body stiffened as she turned to face the enemy who almost killed her without much effort.

He wasn't even looking at her.

Joshua took a breath and stepped forward. "Every sinner needs to pay. But Kai didn't do anything that could kill her. She's innocent."

"Hah?" Varian blinked as if he thought he heard it wrong.

Kai gritted her teeth and stood behind her brother. Even though she still felt scared, she raised her hand and channeled her space power.

If Joshua joined them, maybe they could…

Her idea was extinguished the very next moment when Joshua punched at Varian's defenses.

Even the strongest Xander and the strongest level 7 couldn't break Varian's defense.

"K-Kuh!" Joshua withdrew his injured arm. Multiple chunks of flesh were sliced out by the space blade, his skin and flesh were burnt black while his blood was frozen blue.

Seeing that even the strongest person among them failed to shatter Varian's defenses, a sense of despair filled everyone's hearts.

Seeing their sunken shoulders, Varian shook his head and yelled. "Idiots, attack one spot and break the shield."

"?"

"!"

Even though they were taken aback by his words, they didn't hesitate to do so.

The three abyssals and Joshua punched their way through the telekinetic barrier and space shields while damaging the ice wall, causing large cracks in it.

Then, Axels' sword strike cut down the ice wall and shook the lightning field.

Finally, Kai's space blade tore through the air and ripped apart the lightning field before finally reaching Varian.

With a tip of his finger, Varian stopped the space blade and flicked it away.

"…"

Everyone stared at him with dumbstruck faces.

It was just…

"Fine, fine." Varian stepped forward and the six instinctively took a step back.

"Ugh, since this is too hard for you, how about I make it a bit easy for you? It's not fun if it's too one-sided, no?" He said in a casual tone.

"Are you treating this as a game?" Osbert roared with bloodshot eyes. "I thought you were one us, yet you betrayed our trust, you hideous mons—"

"Please. You guys come to my home star system, wage a war on my race and drive us to near extinction. Now, you want to talk morals? Don't fuck with me." Varian's cold voice caused everyone to flinch.

"And you." Varian eyed Kai Xander who was standing behind Joshua and Axel. She avoided eye contact as she tried to put on a cold expression.

"Your comms won't work. It's useless even if you try."

His words extinguished the last ray of hope inside her heart.

"You can, of course, try to escape." Varian gave a refreshing smile.

At his words, the eyes of the abyssals glittered.

"Six people in six directions, maybe one of you can survive, eh." Varian's voice was like a devil asking them to sign a contract.

It was so tempting, but…

It was a trap.

If they tried to escape, they'd be killed much faster as they're just sitting ducks for a one-on-one battle.

Coupled with Varian's space power and ghost ship, there was no way they could escape.

So, the only solution to this problem…

"If we escape, we'll all die," Joshua shouted as he prepared himself for the battle.

"Heh." Varian smiled at the clever man.

"The only way we can survive is to kill him or hold him off until reinforcements arrive." Joshua rekindled the lost hope in a few words.

"Try to kill me together. This is your best chance." Varian raised his arms. "Don't worry, I won't use my defenses."

The humans and abyssals prepared themselves for this ridiculous fight.

"Come."

Varian decided he'd end them after he extracted the XP from them. 

'I had grown a bit too strong.'