The few minutes that passed in the prince's hall were filled with silence.
Varian stared at Charles with an intense gaze, planning all the 'treatment' he would bestow on Roxanna's surrogate.
Ideally, it'd be better if he asked Sia about what she faced and inflicted ten times, no, a hundred times worse pain on Charles.
'But I don't want to ask her…it's too cruel.' Varian sighed inwardly.
On the other hand, Charles' mouth opened and closed continuously. He was continuously trying to speak, but someone seemed to have turned his volume off.
After getting fed up hearing his blabbering, Enigma used her mind power and shut him down for good.
'…I really want to rest.' Enigma sighed. 'I gathered the eight pieces anyway.'
Her trip to this ruins was finished the moment she exited from that tower. Whatever happened afterward was none of her business. But since it was a matter of Varian and Sia, she was dragged into it regardless.
'Sia, now is the tim—' Enigma suddenly paused and her body shook.
Her suppressed aura exploded out and shockwaves spread out in all directions.
"Haa!" Enigma took deep breaths as she felt her full strength return. It's as if the weight on her shoulders disappeared and she could run freely once again.
On the other hand, Charles' aura also fluctuated slightly but remained in the range of peak level 7.
Despite taking such a precious treasure, he failed to reach level 8.
Enigma, however, could sense an enormous amount of energy within his body.
'That idiot..he only digested less than five percent.' She sighed in regret and compared him to Varian who completely absorbed five different treasures in mere seconds.
As she expected, Charles was no Varian. Despite having similar levels, there was a world of difference between their talents.
In fact, there was a divide between them that perhaps something like talent could hardly fill.
She couldn't explain it without an analogy.
If everyone was crawling, then geniuses would be the ones walking. Out of them, Charles would be running.
But Varian…
Varian would be flying.
Even though Charles was better than the rest, he too belonged to the land.
Varian, on the other hand, had broken that boundary long ago. He belonged to the skies.
'Such a man is really…' With another sigh, Enigma twisted her feet as she felt the broken bones heal.
Pop! Pop!
The sounds of bones popping rang out from her body, prompting a glance from Varian.
Enigma returned an indifferent gaze. '…Should I explain that it's no—'
"Master?" Varian's surprised voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
The three members looked at the middle-aged man in a slightly bloodied dress on the metal sheet, as he was slowly brought toward the stage.
Enigma's fists clenched and she was about to raise her hand when Evander's face crumpled. "Something happened to Sarah."
At those words, Varian's face turned unsightly and Enigma gritted her teeth before loosening her fist.
"W-What happened?" Varian stepped forward and tried to pull Evander.
But only the ban on their levels was lifted, the rule that 'one cannot apply powers on people who are yet to reach the state' still applied.
"She…" Evander lowered his head and his long hair covered his eyes. No one could see his eyes. So, they didn't notice the chilling darkness and indifference.
Instead, they only saw him biting his lips hard enough that they started bleeding, clenching his fists so hard that his nails dug into his flesh and blood started slipping between his fingers.
"S-Sarah was kidnapped," Evander said as his body shook violently.
Varian's heart dropped at his words and he gnashed his teeth. All the happiness from crushing Charles evaporated in an instant.
He stepped forward and asked in a voice that resembled the growl of a beast. "W-Who?!"
At his words, Evander's shoulders drooped and Varian already had an answer in his heart. To make arguably the strongest peak level 9 despair, there was only…
"Julius or Kreo?" Varian asked in a voice so cold that Charles' face paled from merely hearing it from the side.
"K-Kreo…" Evander said as if exhausting all his strength and collapsed onto his knees.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Varian clenched his fists and cursed in rage and frustration.
Enigma's brows furrowed as she kept glancing between Varian and Evander. Her mind was quickly thinking through a lot of things.
During their 'friendly' time alone, Sarah once told her about her destination. It was weird for her to get abducted there.
But if the person in question was a Psychic Sovereign who could read minds, hypnotize high awakeners and grab any secret he liked…
"Hee. Hehaha. Ahehehe." A burst of broken laughter leaked out of Charles' mouth as he watched Varian's state.
Despite a broken body filled with injuries, he only felt joy seeing the person who crushed him get crushed in despair.
Varian raised his head and locked his eyes on Charles. The calmness in his black eyes was nowhere to be seen. All that was left was a mix of deep rage filled with indifference.
"Huek!" Charles felt a chill down his spine and his mouth shut up without the use of any powers.
Varian turned away and his heavy breathing completely calmed down. It was as if he wasn't the one that was panicking and furious a few seconds ago.
Seeing this, Enigma sighed inwardly.
This type of Varian was more terrifying than the one that yelled and lashed out. He suppressed all his anger and thought through things with scary rationality.
"Master, how did you know this? Give me every last detail." Varian asked in a low voice.
A deep sigh escaped Evander's lips as he finally reached the stage. "She went to Jupit—"
Enigma's brows suddenly jumped and she felt an ominous premonition in her heart.
Evander…he was exuding the same feeling from back then.
…Back when he betrayed Sia.
"STOP!"
When Enigma yelled, Evander already raised his hand at the unsuspecting Varian.
The aura of a level 9 shot out from his body and concentrated on a single palm strike.
"Ma—?" Varian's eyes opened in disbelief as he looked at the man in front of him. He couldn't even react properly as the attack reached him in the blink of an eye.
Varian had no time to respond. His head was about to be crushed when a silhouette flashed in front of him.
"!"
Varian's body moved without thinking. In fact, when Evader raised his hand and the aura exploded from his body, he already retrieved the treasure and was in the midst of activating it.
But since his reaction speed wasn't fast enough, he was only able to do it after the attack.
In an instant, a blue barrier enveloped Varian and the woman standing in front of him.
But it was only after the attack landed straight on her face.
"Enigma!" Varian yelled as he subconsciously ran toward her, but his body stopped abruptly as a sense of revulsion came from the depths of his being.
The sound of something cracking sounded within the barrier.
Enigma slowly turned around.
Crimson blood flowed from her forehead all the way down her broken mask before splashing on the floor.
Her tri-color eyes looked at him with the same indifferent gaze before they suddenly fluctuated.
Her mask, which could withstand even the attacks of level 9 began cracking incessantly from a single attack of Evander.
Kacha!
It finally broke down and revealed the face.
Her hair turned brown and her golden eyes looked at him with complicated emotion.
"V-Varian…"
She collapsed in front of him.
