Divine Path System

Twenty lighting bolts streaked several miles and reached the five human awakeners in the blink of an eye.

The air itself heated up due to the potent lightning in each bolt. Just a single one of them was enough to blow up a small city.

Facing twenty of them in their current state, there was no hope of survival.

As the five human awakeners despaired, they heard a frivolous voice sounding from the sky.

Before they could even digest what happened, they saw a man standing in front of them and raising his hand against the lightning bolts.

It all happened in a heartbeat, but perhaps because it was their last moments, everything seemed so slow.

The mid level 8 awakener couldn't see the man clearly, but from the side of his face, he felt that this man, this young man, seemed a little familiar.

'Where did I see him?'

That was his last thought before the lightning bolts crashed onto the young man's hand.

There was no blast. No shockwave. Not even a sound.

The human and abyss armies stopped their battles and turned to this battlefield. Then, as if they saw a ghost, they forgot to breathe.

"W-What?" The old woman blinked her eyes in confusion and looked at the young man. What she saw made her heart nearly stop.

"H-He…" The mid level 8 gaped as her eyes went wide.

Not just her, even the twenty wyverns flying in the air were staring at the young man.

No, they were all staring at his palm.

A golden ball floated above his palm.

"Madness!" The old woman gulped as she realized why the attacks went out in a whimper.

The golden ball…

Varian flickered his hand and the golden ball shot into the clouds. The sky was dyed golden as twenty lightning bolts exploded together.

The ground shook violently and the air grew violently hot in an instant. Such an attack was enough to obliterate both the armies.

Yet, despite such an explosion over their heads, no one was looking at the sky.

They all stared at the young man in utter silence.

Even the lightning wyverns that were supposed to be violent creatures didn't move.

Perhaps it was minutes, or perhaps it was just a second, the first one to break the silence was actually an Abyssal.

With quivering lips, a level 7 Abyssal said. "V-Varian! The devil!"

The human that slaughtered twenty million Abyssals.

The monster who broke a holy altar.

The devil that destroyed the capital city of Mirage Abyss!

The Abyssal army took a step back instinctively as they felt an emotion they thought they long abandoned.

Fear.

Utter. Irrational. Nonsensical.

It consumed their entire being and even when the air grew hot due to the lighting bolts, the Abyssal army shivered.

Seeing the reaction of their own side, the lightning wyverns realized the man was more dangerous than their instincts warned them to be.

But they were given only one order.

Attack!

The twenty lightning wyverns opened their mouths and beams of lightning mana poured out.

A huge lighting bolt was created with the combination of their powers—a special move they rarely used.

The lightning bolt grew from the size of a bus to an airplane and before long, it reached the size of an entire runway.

Standing under the shadow cast by the monstrous weapon, the human army grew worried with each passing second.

They glanced at Varian to urge him to take action. But for some reason, he watched everything with a calm expression.

The lightning bolt stopped growing and its glow started to increase.

The crackling of lightning sounded all across the battlefield like the popping of fireworks. The occasional rumblings shook the clouds.

Before they knew it, the air was scorching hot. Even the lakes nearby started to dry up at a visible rate.

And the lightning bolt started to emit golden light as if it was a sun!

"It's finally ready!" Varian's lips curled up.

"Y-You! That attack will kill everyone!" The old woman, mid level 8, barely stood up and stuttered. "Nothing in the hundred miles radius will survive!"

Varian didn't answer her. Rather, he eyed the weapon with curiosity.

As if responding, the lighting wyverns roared and the lightning bolt flashed.

The gigantic weapon crossed thirty miles in a blink and was just thirty away from reaching the land.

It was then—

A silhoutte collided with it.

The world went dim for a moment before a bright golden light exploded, blinding everyone to its brilliance.

Then, a huge golden shockwave swept the land.

Flowers, trees, even humans and abyssals were blown away when the shockwave touched them.

The mid level 8 watched the huge golden circle in the sky that slowly expanded.

That man…Varian's attack ripped open the lightning bolt!

Suddenly, the old woman's eyebrows jumped and she glanced farther above.

"Son of a—"

Varian stood in the sky, holding the tails of twenty dead wyverns.

His shirt was ripped apart and there were several black chars on his body here and there. Except for his profusely bleeding arm that was twisted in a strange angle, Varian didn't have any major injuries.

On the other hand, the wyverns died with a full body. Only a small ice sword or a snapped neck could be seen.

The disparity in their strengths was clear to see.

"Master, ten wyverns are attacking in a nearby planetoid! Hurry up! They're all mid level 8!"

Varian nodded lightly and his figure flickered before it disappeared from the crowd.

The level 8s stood up as they barely recovered. Seeing Varian's departure, complicated emotions flashed in their eyes.

An 18 year old boy?

Awakened four months ago?

A level 7?

Fucking bullshit!

He's level 8 dammit!

And a very strong level 8 at that!

"He left?" An Abyss soldier asked.

"He really left us alone?" Another followed.

An Abyss captain felt his courage rebound and laughed. "Ah. Haha. What devil? He really isn't much—"

The sky rumbled and thunder roared. Lightning bolts bombarded the Abyss army and decimated them to smithereens.

The devil's voice lingered in the air.

"My parting gift."