"Are you sure you wanna come with us?" Maya asked her boyfriend as she double-checked her luggage.
"I can be at ease only if I'm there in person," Kyle mumbled as he closed up an item and handed it to an obedient man next to him. "Let's go, Tom."
"Understood." Tom, formerly Dr. Thomas, held the equipment from Kyle and stored it inside his storage ring.
The high-rise buildings outside their car passed in a flash and before they knew it, they reached a crescent-shaped spaceport.
Since the mission was to be kept secretive, no military escorts arrived. Instead, a man in military clothes waved to them with an affectionate smile, as if they were his son and daughter.
'Ew~' Maya flinched at the man's stupid grin.
Even though he had a smile, the man's face was completely stiff. It looked totally unnatural.
But the crowd in the spaceport treated it as 'normal' because some men from the military always had a hard time integrating into ordinary life.
Kyle sighed as he held Maya's hand and walked to the man with a bright smile. "Uncle~"
The man raised a brow imperceptibly. He was supposed to be Kyle's 'Father'. What's with being an 'Uncle' now?
'Do you think you can hit on my mother once I call you Father? Keep dreaming!' Kyle already sentenced the man as a pervert when he was informed he'd play as his 'father'.
Of course, the man didn't know that he was seen as a lecher.
With that same stiff smile, he hugged Kyle and Maya before greeting his 'friend' Tom and took them to the teleportation formation in the forbidden military section of the spaceport.
Since the man was a level 8 military officer, no one suspected anything. Even the military guys.
— —
On Uranus, Irene Nial used the teleportation in her own secret realm—which once helped Varian to throw off his pursuers twice when Enigma was hunted—to send the level 9s in her planet.
Since the high awakeners served on a rotational basis, every planet would have a couple of them.
At any period of time, around 90% of the high awakeners would be on the frontlines while 10% would be resting.
These 10% forces acted as reserves and backups in case of emergencies.
Now, Irene teleported all the 10% reserves to a secret realm on mars.
Even though he didn't like Varian one bit, Micheal Caron didn't hesitate to use the excuse of holding an emergency meeting to study the situation of Mars. Then, he locked down the premises of the meeting hall and teleported the level 9s.
Kevin did the same.
The reserve forces of Uranus, Jupiter, and Saturn were quickly heading towards Mars where they would have to risk their lives to save the planet ravaged by Mirage Queen.
— —
Ghost ship roamed outside the spaceports. It'd still take twenty minutes until the first batch arrived and the last batch would be ten minutes after the first.
The sky still continued to shake and crack as the fight continued. The third sun had dimmed considerably, signaling that Bali was a bit exhausted.
But Varian hoped Bali could continue this for a few more hours.
'And before the first batch arrives, I need to do something than sit around and wait.' Varian rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes at the burning sun.
"Master, no! Wait! Don't do it!" As if sensing his thoughts, Boo yelled in panic.
Ignoring Boo's protests Varian drove the ghost ship to space and appeared on the same level as the burning sun and the quiet spaceship.
As if someone was wringing it like a wet towel, the space around Bali twisted and turned.
This was just the unconscious pressure Bali was releasing in the real world since he was fighting Mirage Queen in the mindscape.
A protective mechanism of sorts.
Even if a peak level 9 tried to reach Bali, the twisting space would inflict them with serious injuries. High level 9 and low would just die.
Varian, of course, didn't need to see Bali. Even though they had a lot to talk about, it wasn't time.
Bali also knew this. So, he only focused on keeping Mirage Queen engaged.
'Do your best.'
Varian took a breath and exited the ghost ship. The gravity disappeared abruptly and his body felt a sense of discomfort as he floated in vacuum.
But it only lasted for a moment before Varian felt comfortable.
"This is it."
Bali and Mirage Queen were almost a hundred miles away. The closer one got to Bali, the stronger the spatial fluctuations.
Varian smiled and shot forward.
When he was ten miles in, his shirt was torn apart—luckily, he had a very magical pants that withstood the storm.
When he reached the twenty-mile mark, space blades began to slice his body. Small but numerous cuts appeared all over his body as even his level 8 superhuman body came under pressure.
But without stopping, Varian went as far as thirty-three miles before he stopped.
There he sat, covered in numerous injuries, and began to observe the space up close.
For someone like him, this was XP delivered on a platter. Not just space, but also water—since he used it to resist the fire waves coming from Bali.
A Minute passed. Then another.
Varian's body was baptized in the hostile environment as he faced severe injuries before being healed back with his crazy plantae powers.
This continued again and again before a clicking sound reverberated in Varian's body.
The violent space around him calmed down as if it was acknowledging his presence.
Varian withdrew his space powers and covered himself with an ice shield.
Facing the fire waves and space fluctuations, it quickly broke down.
But after a bit longer than it took with space, another click was heard in his body.
Varian's lips curled up as he felt strength fill his being.
With a thought, he teleported five hundred miles away and slashed his hand.
The space was ripped apart and sucked in some space debris.
Varian threw a few pieces of high-grade metal that could withstand strong level 8 attacks. As expected, the pieces broke down.
Varian closed it off and grinned.
'Status'.
