768 A Mission Critical To Mars' Survival

[Superhuman L8: 0.5/25k (Due to the continuous injuries and healing, your body has grown stronger)

Space L8: 0/25k (Advanced)

Lightning L7: 5/7

Plantae L8: 4k/25k (+1k: Due to continuous healing after major injuries)

Psychic L8: 2k/25k

Macrokinetic L7: 6/7

Water L8: 0/25k (Advanced: Due to the polarity of fire and water)]

Varian breathed out.

Now, five of his paths reached level 8. And the two level 7 paths were also on the verge of advancing.

'I can beat up mid level 8s, I guess?' Varian didn't want to overestimate himself since the difference between each sub-level was very high. But with seven paths, skipping at least one sub-level was very much possible.

What Varian was really curious about was if he could beat high level 8s.

'The veteran high level 8s might be tough, but newbies, maybe I can.' Varian shook his head and returned to the ghost ship.

He just advanced and was feeling 'full'. So, he decided to not try for more XP.

"Master, you scared Boo!"

In the resting room, Boo looked at Varian with a pout.

"If you were a cute girl, I'd have said sorry." Varian patted Boo with a playful smirk and sat on the couch. The moment his body felt the softness, it slumped as if he was made of jelly.

As he rested his head on a pillow, Varian's gaze landed on Enigma who was sleeping on the opposite couch.

She was no longer using three divine paths. So, she was in her original form.

As herself.

Enigma's silvery white hair covered the side of her face, but he could still see her sleeping face.

Contrary to her stiff and emotionless face, she now had a peaceful expression. Her face was somewhat similar but distinctly different from Sia's. It wasn't just her face, even her body was different.

If Sia seemed to be in her late teens, Enigma seemed to be in her early twenties.

Precisely due to the difference in their forms, the two girls were able to fool Varian.

Recalling the one time when Enigma and Sia stood side by side in a hologram, Varian felt his lips twitch.

In that video call, Enigma didn't utter a single word and stood still all the time. At that time, his focus was completely on Sia and he didn't even notice the obvious flaw.

'You two tricksters, you got me and you got me good.' Varina clicked his tongue.

If he noticed the difference, then he'd have met Sia much sooner.

'Well, I don't know if it would've been for better or worse.' Varian bit his lip as he glanced at the woman who made his life a mess.

Most of his brute rage against Enigma was cooled down after he beat her down a while ago.

Varian wasn't proud of what he had done.

After the incident, it became clear to him that he hated his own powerlessness more than he hated Enigma. If he had been strong enough, none of this would've happened.

After his brutal but honest showdown with Enigma, that veil was removed and he faced his deepest and most honest thoughts.

'Hating her when she's treating me like this, I can't do it.' Varian glanced at the sleeping silver-haired beauty.

If he thought from her shoes, then her situation was also pitiful.

As far as Enigma could remember, her world had always been dark. To avoid the scary, silent, and never-ending darkness, she entered a deep slumber.

Only after Sia somehow appeared on Earth and met Varian did Enigma "wake up."

Due to the time she spent sleeping, her mental age was only slightly higher than Sia.

As Sia subconsciously rejected her 'power', Enigma could only stay awake for a few hours every day.

After centuries of slumber, Enigma was finally able to see the real world through Sia's eyes and experience what it was like to be alive.

And she spent those precious hours watching Varian every day.

To Varian, he and Sia grew up together. But to Enigma, she grew up with them.

She could hear him, but couldn't talk.

She could see him, but couldn't touch.

She grew up and experienced many things Sia experienced. But as an individual, her experiences were always incomplete.

Perhaps that's why, while Enigma was smart, she struggled to form proper relationships. She rarely talked and when she did, she could be incredibly blunt.

After nearly a decade of such life, Enigma was finally able to wake up. But instead of being happy, she was on the verge of losing her sanity.

Because the closest person to her other than Sia was about to die.

After living but not really being alive for so many years, the first thing Enigma experienced was possibly her worst nightmare.

So, something snapped inside her at that moment.

She went berserk and lost her sanity.

But when she saw Varian looking at her wanting to die, her sanity returned and she realized what she had just done.

Enigma wanted to be with him, but their bond that never began was already broken.

Since then, she chased Varian's goal and tried her best to end the war.

She told Sia and even herself many other reasons, but at the heart of her decision was her regret.

"What do I do with you?" Varian muttered with a helpless smile.

With a wipe of his finger, a blanket covered the sleeping woman. Enigma's eyelashes shook, but when she felt a hand patting her head, she muttered something inaudible and fell asleep.

Boo tiptoed to Varian and signaled to a hologram.

Varian's expression turned serious and in half a minute, the ghost ship reached a spaceport.

The guards recognized an invisible object entering their range, but didn't do anything to stop it.

The ghost ship entered the military area forbidden to the public and landed in front of thirty awakeners who just assembled.

Without another word, they embarked on the ghost ship. The gate closed and the thirty level 9s found themselves in the middle of a large and cozy room.

But there was a problem.

"Varian?"

"Hey, we need to discuss the plan."

"You asked for our help and you don't even greet us? Where the hell are your manners?"

Some were nice and just wanted to meet him. Others were annoyed at the lack of reception. But a few were arrogant and clearly had ulterior motives.

"You're close to Enigma, you better compensate us with that potion of hers. We're risking our lives, after all."

"Or you can always share with us, someone of your secrets. As Sovereign Julius said, since you have access to Deva treasures, you shouldn't be so selfish!"

When the few greedy ones finally revealed their true motives, the crowd fell silent.

Everyone was a level 9 awakener and had lived a long, long life. Barring the few stupid ones, the majority viewed Varian in a positive light.

They hoped this young man could reach the Sovereign state and beyond and take their race even further.

At their stage, they had enjoyed all the material comfort they could. The only thing they wanted and couldn't achieve was the safety of their race.

That's why, despite personally liking Enigma's potions and Varian's Deva treasures, they didn't ask him for anything.

If Varian gave them, they'd thank him. But if not, they wouldn't force him and hinder his growth.

But the minority wasn't like that.

"My space sense can't go past the walls." An old woman frowned. "Nor can I teleport out."

"I can't sense anything outside the room either."

"Are we locked up?"

"I knew it! This guy is sinister! Sovereign Kevin is too naive to trust him!"

As abuses were hurled at Varian, one of the members pointed his fingers at the wall and gathered his mana.

The rest realized what he was doing and watched in anticipation and fear.

A concentrated beam of purple lightning shot towards the wall. The moment the beam touched the wall, a purple light flashed and everyone in the room was momentarily blinded.

When they regained their vision, they gawked at the perfectly intact wall without a scratch.

"R-Ridiculous!"

"Is this even possible?"

"What the hell is going on?"

As everyone felt their hearts pound in fear, Varian's calm and clear voice reached their ears.

"I'm glad you're all willing to risk your life. But know this. You aren't doing me a favor. You are doing yourself, your children, and your race a goddamn favor.

As per the treasures, be it Enigma's potion or mine, if I think giving them to any one of you can make our situation better, you don't even have to ask, I'll shove it down your throat."

Everyone gulped at Varian's straightforward words.

Indeed, the reason they were here wasn't out of compassion. It was a necessity.

If they didn't strike Mirage Abyss and bring down its forces, Mirage Abyss would strike Mars and bring it down.

Once Mars falls, the rest would follow.

So, essentially, they were here to protect their own future.

"And regarding the plan, it's pretty simple. You're thirty strong, divide yourself into five-six teams. Each team will destroy a city. Each city has a million or a few million abyssals. You don't have to spare anyone."

Hearing Varian's casual tone about slaughtering entire cities, even the experienced warriors felt their lips twitch.

Young people hadn't experienced the cruelty of this world and would have some compassion. The old men and women even saw some youth call the non-warring Abyssals 'innocent'.

But why did he sound completely nonchalant about it?

Just what the fuck did he do in the abyss?

"As Mars' planetoids fell, most of the high awakeners from Mirage Abyss rushed to the frontlines.

Now, they're all stabilizing the planetoids or in the middle of waging a war and conquering planetoids from our grasp.

Basically, Mirage Abyss is at its weakest."

"Such evil!" An old man couldn't take it anymore and cursed. "Can you teach me how to think like you? You're damn sinister!"

A few nodded in agreement.

After hearing about the dire situation on Mars, everyone was thinking about how to build another line of defense to keep Mars safe or send reinforcements from reserves to keep the planet from being conquered.

No one thought or even dare to think about reconquering the planetoids.

But this guy went above and beyond and was proposing a large-scale attack on Mirage Abyss itself!

He's bold and he's crazy!

"Kill a Sovereign and you'll brain will bash itself to generate ideas," Varian replied curtly.

"Wait, what?"

"Are you serious?"

"S-Sovereign!"

"Small talks for later, now just listen," Varian said in a normal tone.

But no one in the crowd took his words normally. Not after they realized Sovereign Kreo's 'disappearance' might be related to this guy.

They didn't even want to think about it and buried the thought in the depth of their minds.

"So, where am I? Yes. Mirage Abyss is at its weakest. But it'll still have a good number of level 9s. These level 9s will be protecting the most important cities of Mirage Abyss.

This is where you come in.

When you go in as a team, only one or two should attack the city.

The remaining should lay an ambush and wait for the level 9 abyssals to appear. When they do, strike them with all you have and kill those bastards.

We can do this maybe once or twice before they get alert. From then, the difficulty will increase.

So, your team would then be fighting against the level 9 and level 8 abyssals in the city.

Except for the capital, the remaining cities won't have enough level 9 to destroy a team.

But they can surely try to pull you into a long battle and wait for reinforcements.

So, your goal is to kill as many as you can, as fast as you can.

If it's gonna take long, don't fight. Escape."

The warriors took a few minutes to digest Varian's plan. Then, a couple of them raised their hands.

"I know, how do we get there? How do you escape the pursuit of abyssals once you destroy a city and they start chasing you?

Once you're done with your city, reach the location I'll send to your comm and I'll pick you up. Once you're in the ghost ship, no one can touch you."

Most of the raised hands fell.

"Mirage Queen will eventually return and we'll get out of there before she does. Our time is limited. Make the most of it."

The rest of the raised hands were also withdrawn.

Only one last hand remained.

"Yes?"

The old man with a long white beard coughed and asked. "Abyssals are not fools. I think they must already be adjusting their manpower in Mirage Abyss now that a new Sovereign has appeared.

I think the defense of Mirage Abyss will recover significantly. Our mission isn't as easy as you made it sound."

Filled with a tinge of appreciation, Varian's voice sounded. "Of course. Abyssals are already preparing to send back some of the level 9s and level 8s to the Mirage Abyss in case of emergency.

But they have to stabilize their newly conquered planetoids first. So, it'll take them an hour or maybe a few to do that. So, we do have time."

"Just traveling to Mirage Abyss takes two hours in general. Even if your ship is fast, we'll take more than an hour.

By then, their defenses will already be tougher and our difficulty will be high. We can raid one city maybe, but that's it. From then on, every other raid will be risky." The old man shook his head. "I don't mind dying for my race, but this is too suicidal for my taste."

The rest of the level 9s in the room looked at the old man and shook their heads.

The old faggot was smart, but he was lazy. It seemed like he didn't do his homework on Varian. Because according to credible sources--

"We'll not be doing direct travel." Varian's voice sounded. "We'll be teleporting from Mars to Mirage Abyss."

"What the?!" The old man's beard nearly dropped to the floor as he opened his mouth in shock.

The level 9s in the room looked at each other and shrugged.

"Just finish your mission. I'll take care of the rest." Varian said and bid them farewell.

While everyone was curious how Varian achieved this impossible feat, they attributed it to ghost ship.

But they didn't know, the one responsible for this magical feat was waiting in a dungeon.

"Kyle, Maya!"

In a remote dungeon, Varian picked up his friends.

Kyle, Maya, and Tom entered the ghost ship through another entrance and made their way to the living room.

"How certain are you?" Varian asked Kyle with a heated gaze.

"Tom already created a device to detect spatial fluctuations. So, hiding them isn't a big problem. We're 99.3% sure it'll work." Kyle said.

"I'm counting on you," Varian said.

"And me?" Maya looked at him with a pitiful gaze.

"You too!" Varian laughed and patted her head.

He gave a short glance at the silent Tom before taking the ghost ship to a secluded place.

Maya took a deep breath and arranged the Cross Tunneling Formation. After a few minutes, she wiped the sweat off her forehead and took out a couple of large space stones.

Every single space stone was worth a fortune and could cause a blood bath between level 9s.

But Maya held several such space stones without much thought as she arranged them in the formation.

Only Sovereigns had such financial capabilities and thanks to Varian's persuasion, Micheal, Kevin, and Irene all burnt their wallets to fund this project.

Else, Varian wouldn't be able to take so many people to Mirage Abyss.

Maya made a hand signal and Kyle retrieved a device from his storage ring.

The disc-shaped silver object enveloped the entire formation in a barrier and Kyle gave Maya an ok signal.

Varian took a deep breath and the next moment, the formation gave off a white light and they disappeared.