908 The Way Back
It's easy to find Varian's location. Wherever he was, there'd be a fierce battle at the Sovereign scale.
Even though the Mad Zone had many powerhouses, Sovereigns were still very rare.
So, Enigma and Sarah easily found him in an hour.
On what was previously a snow mountain range, and had just turned into an ice plain, Varian was waging a fierce battle against six strong Undead beasts.
Despite being outnumbered, he was at a clear advantage.
If it was a normal situation, Sarah would be escatic to see her lover's overwhelming strength.
But that same strength turned into her biggest worry now.
Her fears turned out to be true.
Even though the six Undead beasts coordinated against him, as Undead, their intelligence was limited.
If it was six human Sovereigns of equivalent strength, they could've drawn a stalemate.
But the Undead couldn't even last two hours.
After the hunt, Varian let off a violent laughter and set off for his next hunt.
The black aura or the halo covering his body continued to remain active, even though it fluctuated sometimes.
Using their light and darkness powers to conceal themselves, Sarah and Enigma followed him from afar.
They didn't dare to appear even a thousand miles within his range.
Thankfully, the aura and shockwaves from Varian spread far enough foe them to maintain a safe distance.
The next few hours were undoubtedly the most shocking periods for Sarah and Enigma.
They witnessed Varian kill Sovereign after Sovereign.
In just six hours, more than twenty Undead Sovereigns were slaughtered.
Of course, it didn't mean he was much stronger than the average Undead beast.
His advantage mainly came from his fighting skills and the combination of his eight powers.
Ice against fire beasts. Freeze space on agile beasts. Time attacks for slow but strong beasts.
These targeted attacks combined with genius battle sense led to a spectacular streak of victories.
On the way from one Sovereign battle to another, Varian would slaughter all the Undead he came across.
There were nearly as many Undead as the living, but in this region and the surroundings, the ratio had been skewed.
At least 80% of all Undead in these regions, amounting to at least two million, involving at least a hundred thousand level 9 were slaughtered!
'So that's why!' Enigma realized why they weren't chased by the Undead fiercely in the past two days.
There were barely any Undead left to chase them!
Varian's slaughter continued.
But as they say, all banquets must come to an end.
After killing all the Sovereigns he could, Varian turned his gaze towards the border mountains.
Teleporting in front of a giant mountain which made him look like an ant in comparison, Varian fearlessly launched his attacks.
Lightning mixed with Ice. Space combined with Time. Telekinetic driven by Psychic.
All the power combined into a grand attack and struck the giant mountain.
BOOM!
A quarter of the mountain instantly evaporated and…columns of green liquid fired into the sky, filling the air with a copper smell.
Then came something no one expected.
"Nheeeeh!"
The mountain moved! The earth shook and the sky trembled as a deep roar came from the giant head that came from the bottom of the mountain!
A giant turtle! The boundary 'mountain' was its shell!
'Then the whole region is surrounded by these giant turtles!' The moment Sarah had that realization, the turtle had fully 'woke up' and released its aura.
An aura that was at the very peak of the Sovereign state hit the sky and blew away the clouds summoned by Varian's lightning power.
The earth began to tremble and aura from all directions flocked towards the turtle. The turtle's eyes snapped open and two giant green orbs started at Varian with indifference. As if paying homage to those ancient green eyes, the sky dimmed and the wind stilled.
Even Julius would've backed off against such a powerful foe.
But Varian just laughed and resumed his attacks.
"Nheee!"
Countless small brown walls appeared in the air and blocked Varian's attacks. But occasionally, some broke the defense and hit the turtle.
As a result, a few minutes into the battle, the turtle had multiple giant crater-level injuries on its body and was spilling out the shining green blood.
"Nharar!" The turtle made a different roar and the world seemed to freeze for a moment.
The next second, a giant brown palm materialized above Varian.
"Hahaha!" Varian's attacks struck the palm endlessly but the palm continued like an inevitable curse and slapped Varian.
It seemed to take forever, but the time period was so short that Varian couldn't even teleport.
BOOOM!
Dust filled the sky and the ground shook as if it was about to break apart.
When the dust settled, a huge palm print, several miles wide and deep was entrenched in the ground, came into view.
Varian was still alive on the ground, even though he was missing an arm and a leg. He glanced at the turtle one last time with a cold smile and teleported away.
"Quick!"
Enigma locked onto Varian's aura regardless of being found out and used her artifact to teleport to him.
As Varian continued to teleport, they continued chasing.
A few seconds later, Sarah and Enigma faced the injured Undead Varian standing on a tree, looking down at them with a cold smile.
"...You don't know me?" Sarah asked with a quivering voice.
All she got in response was a lightning bolt.
"Urgh!"
Enigma pulled Sarah away and saved her from getting injured.
Thankfully, after the serious injury from the palm, Varian's power had dropped greatly and seemed bearable.
"Sarah, focus." Enigma pointed her sword at Varian who was looking at them with an amused smile. "He's not sane. He's treating us like prey, just like all Undead."
"I…I know." Sarah's expression hardened and she summoned her light sword.
"Hahahaha!" With a roar of arrogant laughter, the silhouettes of the three blurred.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sky lit up with colorful attacks and the ground was painted with craters as the three clashed at supersonic speeds.
Since Varian was greatly injured, this was their best bet. So, Sarah and Enigma tried their best, not caring for their own safety.
But—
"Urgh!"
"Argh!"
Sarah and Enigma crashed into the ground, forming a large crater. A puddle of blood began to form around their bodies and their visions began to blur.
"I…"
They lost. And they lost miserably.
Varain was indeed greatly weakened due to his injury. But his plantae power was quickly healing him and thus, restoring his strength.
If not for it, they would've won.
But now…
"I…" Sarah struggled to sit, but all the bones in her body seemed to be broken. She gritted her teeth and turned to Enigma who was in the same position.
"W-We're going to die…" She said in a weak tone. "We didn't save him. Nor could we save ourselves."
Enigma sucked in a breath of cold air as a lightning bolt struck her shoulder and a searing pain spread throughout her body. But she still answered in a calm tone. "A-At least we tried. That's enough for me."
Sarah shook her head and channeled the last bits of her aura. She could do one more attack—
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The footsteps of the Undead Varian approached them, announcing their deaths.
He looked down at them with an alien, cold smile and raised his hands. A lightning bolt appeared in his right hand and an ice spear appeared in his left.
"She wants to see him," Enigma muttered and she changed into a brown haired beauty.
The lightning bolt and the ice spear approached their targets slowly, as if teasing them.
"Varian! Varian!" Sia yelled with tears in the corner of her eyes. "Wake up! Please! Come back!"
Sarah wanted to say it's useless but she simply sighed and looked into Varian's eyes.
The lightning bolt hovered over Sarah's heart and the ice spear reached Sia's neck.
As the final moment dawned, the two girls fell silent and looked into Varian's eyes. They said the last thing they wanted to say.
"I love you,"
"I'm sorry,"
The lightning bolt fluctuated and the ice spear shook.
"I…" The Undead Varian clenched his fists as he looked into the eyes of the two girls.
A deep instinct inside him wanted him to kill and corrupt these pure souls. But another instinct rose inside him.
An instinct that long existed inside him but needed an opportunity to manifest.
An instinct to protect.
Such an instinct could only be formed by a mad love that's as natural as breathing.
"I…"
As the two instincts clashed, Varian stood still.
"Now!"
A light sword pierced his neck.
