857 Life And Death

'She' would devour her and put her into a slumber. Being unconscious forever, how was that any different from death?

Enigma could choose to bring down Sia and 'Her' and let them all die together. But she didn't do that.

She was grateful to Sia for giving her the opportunity to live. When she just 'woke up', she was still weak.

Sia had plenty of chances to 'devour' her and put her to rest. She didn't do that. Perhaps because out of pity. Or maybe because of her loneliness. Sia let her live.

Just for that, Enigma couldn't let Sia die.

Moreover…

'He doesn't want her to die.'

Varian went from absolutely hating her to being neutral and even treating her somewhat normally.

The repulsion still remained, implying that his inner feelings weren't overcome yet.

But Enigma felt that she shouldn't cause him any more pain after wrecking his life. She didn't want to see him in pain.

If Sia died, he'd be in a lot of pain. Perhaps only second to the pain after his mother's death.

So, Enigma urged 'Her' to wake up. Once she woke up, everything would be solved.

'Why am I feeling so bitter to do this though…Maybe I do wish to be alive.' The corner of Enigma's eyes turned red.

She didn't know why she was feeling this way. But she didn't want to sleep forever. She wanted to be awake.

Even though it was short, she had come to like this life. She got used to talking to Sia. She wanted to see Sarah and Sia's friendship grow. She wanted to be a part of Varian's journey, and watch him grow stronger.

But it was too late now.

Darkness will engulf her soon and bury her consciousness forever.

As Enigma prepared for the inevitable, an unforeseen error occurred.

Enigma's pupils shrank as she realized 'She' wasn't responding to her calls. 'What happened?'

'You'll die!'

'Wake up!'

'Hurry!'

The Undead's attack was just a blink away and Enigma felt her heart stop beating as she realized the three of them were going to die.

At that moment, all the relief she previously had was washed away and only a bitter feeling remained.

Even as Enigma pulled back into the ghostship, the Undead was faster and his fist finally reached Enigma's neck.

"NO!"

As the tragedy was about to occur, a white light covered Enigma's neck and the world went still.

'Huh?!'

The Undead's speed suddenly decreased!

Enigma's speed was unaffected and she was able to enter the ghostship.

The door closed and the Undead's speed suddenly increased, no, it just reverted.

His punch struck the ghostship and due to the sheer momentum, the ghostship shot into the sky.

Thankfully, Boo had temporarily placed high-quality walls for the door and that saved the ghostship from damage.

"Master, we're retreating now!" Boo said and rushed Ghostship toward the Abyss' exit.

But just as it was advancing, a few vines appeared out of nowhere and were about to slap down the ghost ship.

These attacks exceeded the threshold of level 9 and were something beyond what Ghostship could resist.

Boo didn't even have the time to announce the bad news. 'Is Boo going to die single?'

The heaven seemed to have pitied the ghost as the vines were forcibly twisted in another direction at the final moment and the ghostship escaped safely.

"You bitch! Do you think you can keep saving him?" Despair Queen glared at the woman.

From head to toe, Irene had several small injuries that continued to bleed. They made her look more miserable than she actually is. Still, her condition wasn't that great.

Compared with earlier when she suppressed Despair Queen, she was barely stalemating her now. The injuries were one thing, but the slow loss of vitality was another.

Irene wiped the blood flowing down her eyebrows and clouded her vision as she gave a tired but strong smile. "I only need to save him until he can save us all."

"Hah." Despair Queen also knew her chance of killing Varian was over.

If she went after Ghostship now, Irene would destroy the Undead—destroying their whole plan.

Even if Humans lost Varian, they'd still be barely below Abyssals in their comprehensive power. They'd still progress and surpass the Abyssals in a decade or two.

On the other hand, the condition of the Abyss Empire in a decade would be…

Despair Queen shook her head and decided to kill Irene today. The Undead could recover his strength quickly and regain his Sovereign strength. That'd mark the end of Humanity, Varian, and Enigma.

"You can't save him if you die." Despair Queen launched her attacks on Irene who responded with defensive measures.

On the other hand, even as Ghostship was approaching the exit, the interior was completely silent.

Varian stared at the injured Enigma in silence. For a second, he thought she was going to die. No, she might have really died. In front of his eyes!

Varian's heart was in turmoil. He tried to open his mouth and say something but his throat grew too painful to spit out even a word.

Enigma leaned against the wall as she stared back at Varian as her chest heaved up and down.

Just one second. No, it wasn't even a full second.

It was supposed to be all over, but—

'I…I am alive?'

When the feeling finally precipitated, Enigma slid down the wall and plopped on the ground.

She raised her head to look at Varian with teary eyes. "I-Is this real?"

Varian walked up to her and knelt down to face her at eye level. He looked into her teary violet eyes and felt the emotions surging in her heart.

His own heart was thumping uncontrollably now, feeling both relief and fear.

"No," Varian shook his head. "You're safe."

"T-Thanks…" Enigma said in a low voice.

Her words only pierced the guilt in his heart. Varian closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I'm sorry for implicating you because of my selfish desires. Y-You almost died."

"Your exit plan was p-perfect. It's my body, I overestimated it." Enigma shook her head.

They did converse mentally about the exit plan. Enigma reported her capability on which Varian decided the teleportation distance and ghostship timing.

Facing a significantly stronger opponent, the calculations had to be precise and there really wasn't much room to maneuver.

Varian made it as foolproof as he could, yet a tragedy nearly happened.

Looking at the patches of black energies hovering over her injuries, Varian retrieved the healing potions and floated them over her injuries, and poured them over.

Enigma closed her eyes and focused her aura on the black energies and used the huge vitality from the potions.

The black energies quickly dissipated and her injuries finally began to heal at a quick pace.

Varian sighed in relief and sat next to her with his back against the wall as he waited for her to recover.

He didn't notice that the repulsion distance between them was almost non-existent. They were just half a foot away from each other.

'I nearly caused her death.' Varian closed his eyes shut.

The image of Enigma's fragile back facing the Undead's fatal attack kept flashing in his mind.

She had no business in this. She could've refused to fight. But for him, she put herself at risk.

One punch, that one punch was enough to kill her.

And it should've killed her if not for him weirdly slowing down suddenly.

As for why the Undead slowed down…

Varian felt a soft body hug him as his head was pulled onto a familiar bosom. Her lavender smell made him unconsciously relax as her sweet voice sounded in his ears like music. "After we finish him off, I want you to hold me like this all day, okay?"