902 Heavy Heart. Heavier Hope.
"Leave!" Varian shouted as he summoned a lightning bolt in his right hand and an ice sword in his left.
The space around him fluctuated and a thin layer of translucent armor—space armor—covered his body.
An invisible ripple exuded from him and created an illusion zone around him. The Undead could still see him, but his position was slightly off from the original. The stronger the Undead, the more accurately they could see through this trick.
Another invisible ripple shot out from him and formed hundreds of thin needles made of telekinetic power. They made no movement and waited for the opportunity to strike.
The plantae powers circulated in Varian's body at a high rate and were ready to heal him from any injuries. His chi boiled like magma as it boosted his body's enormous physical strength.
Finally, a yellow light flashed over Varian's body and the world around him slowed down slightly.
This was Varian's full strength.
A total of two level 9 powers, five level 8 powers, and one level 5 power.
The mid level 9s would be easily beaten down and he could fight even a high level 9.
If this was on earth, Varian would've been worshipped as the greatest genius. Sarah would be happy to see him in limelight.
But now, she was only despairing at him facing the Undead. Even with all his strength, Varian had no chance of winning them. The Undead were simply too strong.
Worse, there's nothing they could do to help him. Enigma was on the verge of death a few seconds ago. And Sarah herself was terribly exhausted to play any significant role in this battle.
In other words, if they stayed, they'd become a burden for him. If they didn't…Varian is going to die.
"Varian! Escape!" Sarah didn't care about anything else and shouted. "Survive! Please!"
The Undead near Sarah hummed and launched attacks on her.
Sarah channeled her sparse light mana and was about to construct a barrier when a lightning shield covered her and Enigma.
The attacks were neutralized by the shield and the attention of these Undead was also shifted to Varian.
Starting with the peak level 9s, dozens of attacks landed on Varian. The night sky turned into a day for a moment before the cliff, the mountain, and everything in the surroundings broke apart.
An invisible but familiar force wrapped Sarah and Enigma and pushed them away.
Enigma wanted to resist it, but with her condition, all she could do was lie in Sarah's arms and watch everything with blank eyes.
"Go! I'll try to find a way to survive. I promise!" Varian's sincere and solemn voice rang in their ears.
"No!" Sarah shook her head frantically. "I can't leave you! You'll die!"
The dust cleared, revealing the debris of a mountain, the horde of Undead at the bottom of the plain, and an injured Varian with a bloodied arm.
Sarah clenched her fists and reached a decision. With her light power, she was about to put down Enigma, her voice sounded in Sarah's mind. 'Me too…'
"Good." Sarah simply nodded in response, as if it was expected.
And then, without caring about anything else, she charged the last bits of her power and was about to rush toward him. "If you're bent on dying, I'll die with you!"
The sky once again bloomed with the lights from the multitude of attacks. Dust once again rose to the clouds and Varian got injured once again.
But this time, rather than staring at the Undead, Varian was staring at Sarah who was halfway in reaching him.
'I beg you.' He pleaded. 'I might survive this. But you certainly won't. If that's the case, it's only right for me to take the risk. Sarah, I understand how you feel. But if you and Sia die, it'll be the biggest regret in my life. That's why trust me and leave now.'
His serious words, warnings, and anger wouldn't have worked. But his sincere request did.
'Do you really have a chance of surviving?'
'Overall, yes.'
'What do you mean?'
'I'll die. And then I'll be born again. But with my memories.'
Reincarnation is the norm of this zone. But no creature could retain its memories. That's the ironclad rule.
Sarah looked into Varian's eyes and asked. 'How sure are you?'
'Not so sure.' Varian answered honestly. 'But it's the only way for the three of us to survive. Any other path, I'll lose you or Sia. In that case, all three of us would rather die.'
'Four of us,' Sarah said and took a deep breath.
'Huh?'
'I trust you. Please come back alive.' Sarah used up all her strength to say those words and turned around.
Her shoulders sank and her eyelids drooped. With a heavy heart and heavier hope, she left the place with Enigma.
Like an abandoned orphan, only Varian remained.
"Haah, finally…" Varian sighed in relief as his figure blurred and he appeared in the midst of the Undead.
Dozens of attacks, ranging from fireballs to poison seeds, reached him every moment. Despite his defense and agile evasion, the attacks were too many and too strong, so every moment, he incurred injuries of varying degrees.
But unlike before, Varian didn't shrink from close combat. He embraced it.
The figures of the Undead and Varian continued to blur in the vast plains. The shockwaves spread across for hundreds of miles and dozens of wide craters popped up every second.
The entire landscape began to change. Every few seconds, an Undead would die. And Varian's injury would worsen to the next level.
This all happened despite Varian's plantae power negating most of the injuries.
Soon, a powerful aura rose from Varian and enveloped the surroundings.
[Superhuman Level 9: 0/50k (Advaned)]
Varian felt a tremendous boost of power. His fists seemed so strong that he could destroy an entire town with a punch.
For a moment, he felt invincible. And then, he was injured by the Undead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As his injuries piled up despite the plantae powers' help, Varian grew more and more aggressive.
The Undead also enjoyed the feeling of torturing this pure soul and decided to end the hunt.
The two peak level 9 charged their auras and began their final attack.
A huge sand wall enclosed Varian. Then, everything inside was drowned in blue flames.
Varian wanted to teleport but the space around him fluctuated and cut off that route.
The blue flames swallowed him, little by little.
'So this is it…'
His arms burned away, then his torso, and finally, Varian felt the final bits of him burning into ashes.
[System, I have a request.]
