No one expected it.
Sarah, Enigma, and even Varian himself thought he’d remain in his peak condition until the final day.
There was even a faint hope that perhaps due to his increase in strength, Varian could overcome or at least delay his demise.
Varian believed he’d either live because of fighting and growing stronger or die in a battle.
Reality was cruel. A warrior could stand up against the whole world but he couldn’t stand against his own body.
Varian tried to stay awake. And most of the time, he did stay awake. But every now and then, he fainted without warning.
And one of that times happened to be when they were being chased by Undead.
Varian was running at full speed when his mind suddenly went blank and he fainted. He crashed through a row of trees and came to a screeching halt.
Due to the sheer momentum, Enigma and Sarah couldn’t stop running until they were far ahead.
When they did stop, Varian was already a dozen miles behind and the Undead were about to reach him.
During the entire duration of this chase, Enigma didn’t dare to teleport because they were in a dangerous forest.
If they teleported into the nest of a peak level 9 beast, it’d be like stretching their necks to the guillotine. Often, there were eccentric living beasts that chased them if they sensed space fluctuations. So, it’s dangerous to teleport in this region.
But Enigma couldn’t care about it anymore. She quickly teleported to Varian and then back to Sarah.
As their luck would have it, two peak level 9 auras rose into the air and locked onto Enigma.
A giant snake and a giant tree monster rose from the forest and started marching toward her. These were the peak level 9 monsters. At the same time, the Undead was about to unleash their attacks on her.
Enigma took a deep breath and shouted. “Go!”
Sarah looked into Enigma’s eyes and wanted to say ‘No’, but seeing the burning belief in those tricolor eyes, she simply nodded.
Enigma could of course choose to teleport and try to escape. But if she escaped alone, the beasts and Undead would target Varian and Sarah. And if she tried to escape with them, they’d also be targeted since they were with her.
So, Enigma picked another path. She’d stay behind for a while until Sarah and Varian could get out of the beasts’ range and then try to escape.
Enigma had very little chance of surviving. Yet, she didn’t hesitate. In her eyes, Sarah only saw determination. Perhaps, no, undoubtedly, Enigma was prepared to die.
Sarah hugged Varian as she escaped at her fastest. As Enigma’s lonely figure slowly faded in her screens, Sarah’s vision blurred.
‘Why? Why did it have to be like this?’
The three of them wielded power far greater than any of their peers. But the burden they shouldered was something no earthling could imagine.
Sarah suppressed the guilt rising in her chest and kept running. She was slowly gaining distance from the Undead. But she didn’t slow down. She didn’t dare to slow down. She was afraid that once she did, she’d be hearing the screams of Enigma as she faced off against the horde of Undead.
‘I’m sorry…’
Pearl-like tear drops rolled down Sarah’s cheeks and floated away with the wind as she marched forward with Varian on her back.
The passage of time was indifferent to her suffering.
The Undead continued to chase her down. Without the support of Enigma, Sarah had to keep full focus on not only looking out for threats in front but also defending herself and Varian from the attacks coming from the back.
Sarah was quickly growing tired. First, it was her legs. Then, her arms. Eventually, her entire body was aching from pain.
As a result, she failed to dodge a fireball in time and it was about to hit Varian on her back.
Sarah’s eyebrows jumped and she instinctively stretched her arm backward to guard Varian against the fireball.
A small light shield formed around her arm, but it was too weak to stop the fireball. The light shield quickly cracked apart and the fireball hit Sarah’s arm.
Sarah trembled as a searing pain ran across her body and her nerves screamed in agony. Her right arm’s skin was completely burnt and dripping with blood. With each step she took, blood would spill out, as if painting a bloody trail.
The easiest way to get out of this situation would be to abandon the unconscious person and escape by herself. But the thought didn’t even cross Sarah’s mind.
She gave it her all and kept running and running and running.
To her bad luck, a few more Undead joined on the way and things went from bad to worse.
Before she knew it, her body was covered in numerous wounds. Scorched, electrocuted, burnt, cut, sliced.
The beautiful girl who looked like a divine angel turned into a bloody mess. She looked nothing like her previous self. The only thing that didn’t change was her blue eyes. They remained clear and determined.
Even under the pain which would make even veterans collapse, she carried on. Thanks to her perseverance, Sarah finally left behind the Undead and found a safe haven at the bottom of a red lake.
The lake’s bed had multiple caves. She picked one, emptied it out of the water, and sealed the cave.
After pouring Varian a healing potion first, she took a couple herself and collapsed onto the hard, cold floor.
The truth of the matter was because of Varian’s condition, she had to push herself more and more these days. And with today’s chase, she pushed herself to the limit and her body demanded a rest.
“I…” A hoarse voice sounded in the exhausted girl’s ears.
Even though she had no energy left, Sarah eagerly looked up and saw Varian opening his eyes.
She involuntarily sighed in relief before her pupils shrank. ‘Enigma…’
