NOVGO.NET Chapter 216: Varek
Chapter 216: Varek
Then Bruce ran.
The distance vanished beneath his feet, the landscape blurring into indistinct streaks as Reignland finally came into view. The closer he got, the heavier the atmosphere became, dense with mana, tension, and something else beneath it all.
Unease.
The moment he crossed into the outer perimeter, Bruce noticed it.
There were fewer Awakened guards stationed around Reignland than the last time he had been here.
Significantly fewer.
He exhaled slowly.
That alone told him enough.
An array like barrier still enveloped the territory, transparent yet unmistakable, woven layers of mana forming a defensive shell over the land. It was the same formation he remembered. Last time, Varek had personally ordered the guards to let him pass, temporarily opening the barrier for him.
This time, there was no Varek.
And Bruce wasn’t in the mood for explanations or pleasantries.
He didn’t slow down.
Instead, he surged forward and passed straight through the mana barrier at full speed.
There was no resistance.
No disturbance.
No backlash.
The mana parted around him as if acknowledging his presence rather than opposing it, the barrier rippling faintly before settling back into place as though nothing had happened.
Bruce didn’t look back.
The guards stationed near the array stiffened the moment they sensed him breach the barrier, eyes widening as his presence flashed past their awareness and vanished deeper into Reignland.
“…Sophie’s boyfriend?” one of them muttered, staring in the direction Bruce had disappeared. “Is he here to help?”
None of them answered immediately.
Under normal circumstances, they would have stopped him. Their situation was already precarious, letting outsiders roam freely was the last thing they wanted. Another variable. Another unknown.
But they didn’t move.
Because they remembered.
Back then, when Bruce had arrived carrying Sophie in his arms, after everything that had happened, direct orders had come down from above.
From Lord Bane himself.
If Bruce Ackerman ever returns to Reignland, he is to be granted unrestricted and undisturbed entry.
No exceptions.
Feeling Bruce’s presence slip completely beyond the reach of their aura, the guards could only release a helpless sigh.
One of them spoke quietly, almost under his breath. “I really hope Lord Bane is right about this Bruce guy. The last thing we need right now is another problem…”
Sharp gazes immediately turned toward him.
The guard stiffened, then scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “S sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” he added quickly. “Lord Bane is always right. It was blasphemous of me to doubt his judgment.”
The tension eased, just a little.
But as they looked deeper into Reignland, none of them could shake the feeling that whatever Bruce Ackerman had just stepped into,
It was already beyond the point where caution alone would be enough.
Deep within Reignland, Bruce released his aura fully.
It spread outward like a silent tide, unfurling in vast, invisible waves that swallowed the territory whole. The land answered him immediately. Mana signatures flared across his perception, guards holding defensive lines, awakened squads clashing at distant fronts, clusters of defenders moving in tight formations, scattered pockets of resistance flickering like dying embers. Every presence registered with cold clarity, mapped instantly within his mind as his awareness expanded without restraint.
Then,
He found it.
A familiar mana signature sliced through the noise, sharp and unmistakable, carrying a presence Bruce knew all too well. The moment it touched his perception, a name surfaced without hesitation.
Varek.
There was no mistaking it. That aura belonged to him. More importantly, it wasn’t stationary. It was moving at extreme speed, deliberate, focused, urgent. Not retreating. Not patrolling. Heading somewhere specific, somewhere that mattered.
Bruce didn’t pause to think.
His aura surged harder as he erupted forward, the world compressing beneath his stride. Space itself seemed to fold as he crossed vast distances in heartbeats, the ground blurring into irrelevance as he closed in on the moving signature almost instantly.
Ahead of him, Varek was already racing toward what could only be another frontline, cloak snapping violently behind him as his speed pushed the limits of control. Then, mid stride, his expression shifted. His senses screamed a warning.
Someone was coming.
And whoever it was wasn’t hiding in the slightest.
A presence surged toward him openly, powerful, direct, utterly unrestrained. Varek frowned, instincts flaring as he adjusted his movement, eyes narrowing slightly.
That aura…
“…Bruce?” he muttered under his breath.
It was familiar. Too familiar. But it was wrong.
This wasn’t the aura of an S Ranked Awakened.
This was SS Rank.
His mind rejected it immediately.
’Impossible. It’s only been a few days.’
Still, his body responded before his thoughts could catch up. Varek decelerated smoothly, coming to a controlled stop as his hand hovered near the hilt of his sword.
The next second,
WHOOSH.
The air screamed as Bruce blurred into existence beside him, the sudden displacement detonating briefly before settling into silence. He halted effortlessly, as if momentum itself bent to his will.
Bruce turned his gaze toward Varek.
Silver hair tied back neatly. Expression composed, eyes sharp and steady. Sword still sheathed at his side. Calm. Focused. Exactly as Bruce remembered.
“Which dungeon portal is Sophie in?” Bruce asked immediately, voice steady but edged with urgency. “Don’t worry. I’m here to help.”
When he had scanned Reignland earlier, Sophie’s mana signature hadn’t appeared anywhere within his reach. That absence alone had sent a cold knot tightening in his chest. What he had sensed instead were dungeon portals, too many of them, scattered across the territory.
Seven.
Entering the wrong one would cost time he couldn’t afford to lose.
That was why he’d come straight to Varek.
Varek didn’t answer out loud.
Without a word, he raised his smart bracelet and summoned a holographic panel, fingers moving with practiced speed across the interface. A second later, Bruce’s own bracelet vibrated softly.
A message surfaced in his vision.
[52.44324° N, 253.453343° W]
Bruce glanced at it once.
’How did he get my smart bracelet ID…?’
The thought flickered briefly, then vanished just as quickly.
There was no time to ask.
Without another word, Bruce disappeared.
The air detonated as he accelerated instantly, his figure reduced to a streak of compressed force tearing across Reignland toward the transmitted coordinates, leaving shockwaves rippling in his wake.
Varek watched him go, the displaced wind tugging at his cloak as the pressure faded.
He exhaled slowly.
“…So you’re already SS,” he murmured, a quiet sigh escaping him as he turned back toward where he was heading before he got interrupted.