"Has there really been no news?" A weak and soft voice asked.
"None. Even their friends…disappeared."
"Does he not trust us with his friends?" A wry smile appeared on the woman's pale face before she signaled the intelligence officer to leave.
Irene slumped back into her throne with a worried expression. Her worst fears were coming true. Something happened to Varian.
"Did he really…" Irene shook her head. "No. Impossible. How could he die just like that? That boy is…"
Irene knew she was just lying to herself.
Over the course of her long life, she had seen too many geniuses. Thousands, tens of thousands of them. But she also saw many geniuses also die before they became a level 9. Heck, even level 9s died.
"Even I was on the verge of death…" Irene patted her chest.
Everyone could die. Ordinary people. Geniuses. Level 9s. Even Sovereigns. Varian too.
"And you said you'll be a Sovereign one day…" Irene lowered her head and felt her chest grow heavy.
Sure, she had seen many geniuses. But this boy was unlike any other.
His talent, his courage, and his optimism. Everything mixed to make him a monster out of all monsters.
With his talent, if he was alive, Irene was confident that Humanity would solve the Abyssals in a year.
Thinking back to why he died, Irene felt a lump in her throat.
"To save his race, at such a young age, with a bright future ahead of you…why is this world so cruel?" Irene wiped the corner of her eyes and tapped her comm.
"Announce the highest level of the funeral for Varian," Irene said in a solemn voice. "The world doesn't know how much this boy paid. The least we can do is respect him for his sacrifices."
There were many, many martyrs in this war. Only a few got special funerals. But Varian's funeral was at the same level as a Sovereign.
Only a few individuals throughout history had this honor. Recently, Commander Skad who sacrificed his life to stop Mirage Queen to buy time for Mars got this honor.
"To have such martyrs, is it our honor or tragedy?" Irene looked out of the window with a sigh.
— — —
"A-Are you sure? Those names included in the funeral?" A tall middle-aged man asked in a trembling voice.
"Can't you read, brother?" The old man sitting next to him gulped down his beer and grumbled.
"I…" The middle-aged man clenched his fists as his chest felt too heavy. Looking at the name under Varian's funeral, he couldn't even breathe.
"How…How did this happen? That bastard…he said he'll protect…" The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and slumped into his chair.
"Yo! Why are you so down, Haras? Didn't you get some good loot in the Ruins?" A burly man passing by patted Haras' shoulder and asked with a grin.
The middle-aged man called Haras didn't respond. He lifted the beer jug and started drinking.
Some of the beer spilled into his eyes and caused them to turn red. But he didn't care.
"Hey, that's ours—"
"Yo, get it back!"
As if possessed, he picked the jugs from other tables and started drinking them.
The alcohol that would've downed even a hundred level 7s was drunk by him and he was still searching for more.
By this point, no one tried to talk to him. They all understood that 'Haras' whom they thought of as a fellow level 7 was someone far stronger.
"Give me more! More!" The middle-aged man slammed the counter and roared.
Even though he's a level 6, the bartender nearly buckled at the roar.
"Y-Yes!" Shouting in response, he ran back to the storeroom and brought back the stock.
As the middle-aged man was about to grab for more, the comm on his wrist lit up and a message flashed.
The middle-aged man froze as if he saw a ghost and then without a word, rushed out of the bar.
"Hey, your tab—"
He ran all the way to the deserted alley mentioned in the message and saw the familiar spaceship.
His face lit up and he asked. "Where is she? And is he safe? They're just hiding like every time, right?"
No sound came out of the spaceship.
The bright expression of the man slowly darkened before it turned into one of despair.
A depressing silence filled the air, and a cute but gloomy voice sounded. "Sia asked me to give this to you…in case something happened to her."
An exquisite blue potion landed in Evander's hands.
"She said she forgave you." Boo conveyed her words.
"Something…what happened to them?" Evander asked as his heart nearly leapt out of his throat.
"Master fell into a space crack. Sia and Sarah jumped in for him." Boo said slowly and the Ghostship rose into the air. "This last will was just insurance by them…but not anymore. Please use the power in your hands to fulfill their aspirations."
Evander lowered his head and walked into the Ruins of Jupiter.
Both Sarah and Varian. Even Sia…
He'd avenge them all!
—- — —
"You're kidding! I'll exorcise you! Don't joke! Don't fucking joke! It's not funny!" Kyle roared with a scary face as he was about to pounce on Boo.
"Stop. Let him at least say what they wanted to say. We should respect their wills." Maya wrapped her arms around him and stopped him from reaching Boo.
Boo looked at Kyle who had tears running down his cheeks and sighed. "Master said his death was unlikely…but if it were to happen, then he said it's hard for Humanity to fight against the Abyssals. So—"
"He didn't die. You said he fell into a space crack. That's not death. There's still a 1 in a hundred trillion probability of survival." Kyle said with a red face, as his chest heaved up and down.
"Boo hopes so too." Boo smiled bleakly.
Seeing the miserable smile of the little ghost, Kyle stiffened and lowered his head.
He was devastated at the supposed news of his best friend's death. But wouldn't Boo also be crushed because of it?
As someone who spent literally every day with Varian, Boo had a deep relationship with him.
Even though he seemed to bully it a lot, Varian was like a half-parent to Boo.
Perhaps the pain Boo was going through was as bad as the one he was feeling.
Kyle wiped away his tears and tried to smile. "So, what did that bastard want to give me?"
"This."
A blue potion, a white potion, and a highly encrypted document fell into Kyle's hands.
"Master gave me the potions to give you. Enigma gave me the document. It is the method to prepare the potions from their blood."
