Charles' paw shot towards Enigma at a supersonic speed.
Boom!
The air burst and shockwaves spread from his claw even before it covered half the distance. These shockwaves, by themselves, were dangerous to wipe out level 5s upon contact.
Whoosh!
The claw, powerful enough to level a mountain, reached Enigma's face in the blink of an eye.
Severely injured, Enigma's face was completely bloodied. Her tri-color eyes still hadn't registered the attack.
Just as the fingernails were about to pierce into Enigma's eyes, they stopped abruptly.
Zzzz!
The claw shook violently as its fingernails wriggled up and down. They came dangerously close to piercing Enigma's eyes before abruptly pulling off.
"Huh?" Enigma could feel it.
The space around Charles' claw was blocked.
Not just that, she also saw a very thin, but very firm blue barrier. A layer of enforced ice!
Adjacent to that was a layer of yellow. Lightning barrier!
As if that wasn't all, she could also feel a mind power in her surroundings, entering Charles' mind and forcing him from moving his claw.
Enigma's tri-color eyes suddenly shone and she parted her lips in wonder. "V-Varian…"
Whoosh!
An invisible force wrapped around her and dragged her abruptly.
Just a moment later, Charles' claw swung down and struck down the location Enigma previously was in.
Boom!
She escaped it by a hair's breadth!
As her thoughts turned messy, Enigma was already a few miles away from Charles who looked to her left in confusion.
'Left…?'
Enigma's eyes turned to her left and there she found him.
He gave her a deeply apologetic expression before turning to face the giant wolf in the distance.
"Enigma, I'm sorry. I pushed you into danger."
"W-What are you saying?" Enigma struggled to speak through her injuries as blood leaked out of her mouth.
Varian's expression worsened seeing her in this state and he quickly raised his hand.
It turned into a light brown colored branch with bright green leaves. With a simple shake, three leaves shot out from the branch and reached Enigma.
"W-What is it—" Enigma stopped mid-way as she felt a cool sensation envelop her body.
Her wounds, all the way from head to toe, be it heavy or light, started to heal. The speed of healing was even faster than potions!
"If I can touch you, I can heal you faster. But this is the best I can do now." Varian gave another apologetic smile.
"Rooa!"
Charles kicked the ground and shot toward Varian.
Disregarding his enemy, Varian looked into Enigma's eyes.
At that moment, Enigma felt a very soft and gentle touch caressing her head. It was the touch through his telekinetic power.
"Please rest." His gentle voice caused her eyes to shake.
Enigma opened her mouth but no words came out. In the end, all she could do was stare at him blankly as he turned around and punched out at Charles.
The white wolf took a single step back while Varian staggered dozens of steps. While the wolf had no injuries, blood trickled down Varian's lips.
It was exactly what happened during their first encounter. Except the roles were reversed.
Varian looked at the blood seeping from his arms with a serious expression.
Even though he guessed Charles' strength to be significantly higher from his aura…this was still a lot higher than he expected.
If this was the case…
Varian's body flashed and he teleported a few meters closer to Enigma.
Right, when he teleported, a white silhouette crashed onto the location he was previously at.
"Enigma." Varian looked at her and his serious expression softened.
"Yes?" Enigma was secretly shocked at the regenerative speed. As ridiculous as it sounded, she'd be completely healed in a few minutes. If he could heal faster with direct touch, she could only imagine how fast that would be.
"Quit now." Varian said in a grave tone.
"…You can't beat him either," Enigma said in a low voice. "Let's quit together. You can meet Sia after—"
"I'm not leaving without killing this bastard once and for all!" Varian said in a deisive tone.
"No chance! I'll tear apart your limbs, torture you so much that you beg for death! I'll make you pay for all the humilation!" Charles roared as he kicked the ground with his hind legs.
Like a bull marching towards the red flag in fury, he marched towards Varian.
"…Go!" Varian said once again and shot forward.
Varian clenched his fists and covered them with a layer of space, lightning, ice and telekinetic power.
Without any extra word, he swung his fist.
At the same time, he attacked Charles' mind.
This was his strongest attack…
Boom!
"Kuh!"
Varian clutched his abdomen and covered the deep wound to stop the blood from gushing out.
'Fuck.' He turned the part into plantae and the wound quickly closed up.
A few hundred meters away from him stood the white wolf, with no injuries at all!
"Hahaha! Weak! Too weak! You have not three, not four, but seven paths! Yet, you can't beat me! You are going to die in my hands. And the secrets you store for such powers will be used by me!" Charles said in a burst of laughter.
"Really? I think I'll grow stronger than you by the time our battle ends." Varian hissed and teleported right behind Charles.
A lightning arc pierced the wolf's body and paralyzed it for a split second before a breeze of ice froze it.
Even then, Charles was on the verge of breaking out.
The space around his body froze and that helped prolong Charles' immobility period just for a moment.
That moment was enough.
Boom!
Varian's right hand turned into lightning sword and his left into an ice sword.
Without hesitation, he slashed at Charles from behind.
Whoosh!
Kacha!
The moment his swords connected with his flesh was also the moment Charles broke out and lashed at him with his tail.
The elemental swords pierced through Charles' skin and dug into his flesh while the tail slapped Varian.
Boom!
Varian crashed next to Enigma as he clutched his sunken chest. Quite a few bones were broken and his insides were now a mess.
The attack was both faster and stronger than he expected.
"You're done!" Charles grinned. He had two significant injuries on his rear, but his overall combat power wasn't affected.
On the other hand, Varian…
"…This nephew of a bitch. Cough. Cough." Varian cured as he coughed out blood.
He turned to his left and looked at the injured woman with a sigh. "Hey, let's quit."
"…didn't you say you'll kill him just before?" Enigma asked in a dumbfounded tone.
The situation was serious, but she couldn't help but give him a strange look.
'Are you this quick to change your words?'
Facing her gaze, Varian wasn't embarassed at all. "Do you think I can't win him? Of course I can. I think you'll end up as collateral. So, to save you, I'm proposing we quit."
"…" Enigma opened her mouth at his shamelessness.
Varian smirked and turned to the white wolf that was rushing at them.
His smile vanished.
'I can't win him. If I fight for long, I'll improve, but by the time I approach his strength levels, I'll be worn out. Yet, I'm more than willing to risk it but…'
He glanced at Enigma from the corner of his eye. 'I thought I can keep him completely occupied and let you help me after you heal. But he's too strong.
So, there's a big danger where I won't be able to stop him from attacking you. This is a golden opporutnity, but I don't want to kill him at the expense of your life.'
"Enigma, why are you hesitating? Quit now!" He urged her.
"Hahaha! You want to quit? Before you even say those words, I'll fucking kill you two!" The wolf approached them with a greater speed.
Varian hurriedly teleported them and an explosion occurred right after.
The area they were previously in was now attacked by the white wolf.
"Enigma!" Varian looked at the woman who was silent as if she was contemplating something.
"Now's not the time. Go!"
"You're only going to hell!" Charles voice sounded and the wolf reached them once again.
Whoosh!
They teleported safely once again, but this was a close call.
Varian scowled at the unresponsive woman.
"Enigma, what ar—"
"Here you go." Enigma tapped something and a storage ring shot towards Varian.
"W-What is this?" Varian asked as he teleported with her once again.
"A gift from Sia…she wanted to give it in person. But it seems she doesn't have that luck." Enigma shook her head.
"Gift? Why? And why now?" Varian teleported them once again and this time, Charles' attack landed on him partially, injuring his shoulder.
"Use it already!" Enigma rolled her eyes.
"You two think you can talk?" Charles reached them in the blink of an eye and managed to injure his arm before the duo teleported.
"Use it…?" Varian hurriedly retreived the items in the storage ring.
A bright light flashed and the items shot into his body.
[+200 XP]
[+300 XP]
[+400 XP]
…
…
The system's notifications kept ringing.
