803 Enigma's Decision

Above the clouds, one of Mars' many planetoids.

A pitch-black darkness spread for hundreds of miles, like gloomy clouds covering the sky and blocking everything.

From here, the battlefield on the ground looked like two groups of ants clashing, except for the small but bright explosions in different colors.

It was as if someone was bursting fireworks on the ground or spilling paints of different colors.

But other than the occasional colors, the ground itself seemed to be painted with two colors.

Red and Green—the blood of Humans and Abyssals.

Sometimes, a huge explosion shook the ground and a dust cloud rose all the way to the clouds! Lightning bolts flew nearby. Mountains were tossed at it.

But the darkness didn't faze in the slightest.

Yet that very darkness, which remained stable even when level 7 attacks struck, began to shake violently without any external pressure.

Muffled and cracking sounds slowly leaked out of the darkness that was silent so far.

Then without any warnings, the darkness vanished, revealing a woman in black.

She was holding her knees and panting heavily as blood gushed out of the wounds all over her body.

Floating in front of her were two Abyssal corpses pierced by sharp dark tentacles.

After she tasked herself with saving Mars from Nightmares—a group of twelve level 9 Abyssals—Enigma had already taken down two of them earlier.

These were her third and fourth hunts.

"Eight more…" Enigma struggled to stand straight.

She was a low level 9. Despite having three powers, fighting a sub-level above her wasn't easy.

Gulping down a healing potion, Enigma dragged her battered body into her spaceship and lay down to rest in a healing pod.

The medical gas enveloped her and began to prevent her bleeding and heal her injuries.

Feeling the warmth, Enigma's eyelids grew heavy and she was fast falling asleep. The fights tired out not just her body, but also her mind.

But before she could catch a wink of sleep, her comm rang.

Ding!

Eyes still closed, Enigma tapped the comm with trembling fingers which were still bleeding.

"Enigma!"

Blue Flash's hologram popped up in front of her. The older woman had a concerned expression on her face as she studied Enigma's condition.

"He…how is he?" Enigma muttered, without getting up or opening her eyes.

Blue Flash's face crumpled as she chided. "Worry about yourself more. That guy is totally fine and is about to do a Pluto 2.0."

"W-What?" Enigma's eyes shot open and she tried to sit up. But the sudden moment worsened an injury that was almost healed and blood spilled into her black clothes.

"Don't move. Please. Rest for now." Blue Flash pleaded. After a fierce one-on-one with an Abyssal of her strength, she was heavily injured and was resting.

So, she decided to check on Enigma. Compared to her, Enigma fought two Abyssals and she did it twice!

"You're already pushing yourself too much."

"Fine." Enigma sighed and didn't try to move anymore. "What happened to him?"

Blue Flash puckered her lips but answered nonetheless. "Using Dr. Thomas' latest invention, he wants to find the secret realms near Neptune and use the teleportation formations in it to travel to Pluto.

But the area that needs to be searched is so vast that even Ghost Ship needs weeks. So, he asked Neptune's Athena group to give access to their drones."

Enigma's eyes shook violently. "Don't. It's very dangerous. We all nearly died last time."

"I stopped them from granting him access." Blue Flash said but smiled wryly. "He's already halfway through hacking the command system. He'll be taking them at any moment."

"H-He!" Enigma gritted her teeth as she felt a sense of powerlessness. Even though she warned him time and time again, Varian was taking risks that put him in great danger.

Surviving life-threatening situations, again and again, didn't mean he could survive them every single time. One failure and its death. End of everything.

"Enigma, I tried my best. But I can't stop him." Blue Flash sighed. "And I don't think you can stop him either."

Enigma clenched her fists as her chest heaved up and down. Blue Flash was right and that's why she was so pissed off. "He never listens. He thinks he's a hero!

Even if he is, even if he saves them now, when people learn that he killed Kreo and indirectly caused millions of deaths, they'll start hating them."

Blue Flash sighed. Even though he never intended for it, the deaths of tens of millions of humans would be counted on him. Then, would everyone view Varian the same?

It's a problem for the future Blue Flash didn't want to think about. For now, survival was paramount. But she's injured now and didn't have much to do. So, she let the woman voice her worries.

"These people…" Enigma closed her eyes shut and her tone carried resentment. "They are swayed by easy things. They hated the very Shadow Guardians that died to save them. They really thought that the heroes were terrorists."

A wry smile hung on Blue Flash's lips. She had seen many dark things in her life. Terrible things that would make one's skin crawl.

Yet, demonizing Shadow Guardians was the darkest.

Forget about the Guardians, what about Enigma?

She did only good for the human race. But what they did repay her with? Hatred! They sincerely wished her death!

Even if she's magnanimous, there's no way Enigma would forget what she faced that day.

And as a matter of fact, Enigma wasn't magnanimous.

"I never tried to save them for themselves, so I don't care what they think of me," Enigma said in a cold tone before it turned into one of worry. "They'll hate him. Even if he gave his everything for him, they don't care. It might crush him.

"If he is crushed, Sia will be crushed with him. It's something I don't want to see." Enigma flicked her finger and used her gravity powers to sit up. "If I can't stop him from going to Pluto, I'll join him."

"You should rest for now!"

"This is more important."

"Now, the Shadow Guardians and Athena are barely holding back the remaining nightmares. If you go to Pluto, it'll take too long. Mars will fall."

Enigma's eyelashes fluttered as she fell into deep thought.

There were eight nightmares left. Eight level 9s.

Athena surely wouldn't have eight spare level 9s in time of this grave emergency. Maybe they could squeeze out two or three. Shadow Guardians could give out only three.

This coalition wasn't strong enough. They would barely be able to hold the nightmares down. But if it's too late, the Guardians and Athena group would both be slaughtered.

Once this dent appeared, everything would snowball and Mars would really fall.

Enigma pursed her lips and stared right into Blue Flash's eyes. "Alison, I don't care."

Blue Flash opened her mouth to refute but no words came to her mouth.

Enigma had no reason to stay in this fight. She just saw her help them again and again and developed a sense of expectation for her.

But none of it mattered to Enigma.

"Maybe we could do something about it." Blue Flash said. "You can help Varian without Mars falling. That's the best-case scenario, right? Varian wouldn't be happy if Mars fell."

Enigma gazed at her in silence and catching the hint, Blue Flash continued. "If you can handle three Abyssals at once, then…"

Enigma nodded without hesitation.

"Thankfully…"

A few minutes later, Varian was officially granted permission to use the Drones. And he also got a message regarding a level 9 reinforcement for the Mars mission.

Maybe it was fate, maybe it was not.

But the person who was coming to help Varian was someone who had deep ties with Pluto.

Ties of vengeance.