"…Ouch." Kyle rubbed his neck and stretched his arms. "What happened…?"

"You got knocked out." A familiar voice said lightly.

'This!' Kyle jumped out of the healing pod and reached out his hands at Varian. "Hey!"

His hand passed through Varian's hand and Kyle swiftly realized that the one in front of him was only a hologram.

So, he calmed down immediately and searched for Maya. After seeing that she was alright, he calmed down and raised a brow at the hologram.

"Are you really Varian?" He asked with a bit of caution.

Everything was all too sudden. Even though his mother assured him, Kyle still felt everything was unbelievable.

"If I say no, will you build me another tomb and write some crazy shit on it?" Varian rubbed his fists and asked with a menacing smile.

"Eh…haha. It's really you." Kyle laughed. "If it was your real self instead, I'd have confirmed with a glance."

"If it was his real self, he'd have beat you up," Maya added from the side. "For bullying me, of course."

"That is of course." Varian nodded.

"You betray your brother for a girl?" Kyle said with a shocked expression.

Varian slightly signaled to Sarah and the trio caught up with each other

Sarah understood what he meant and walked to Enigma's room. She knocked on the door a few times and it slowly opened.

In the small but sleek and tidy room, Sarah saw Enigma gazing into the space. Sarah didn't know Enigma enough to understand that she was distracted.

But she could sense the depressing atmosphere in the room.

'She must be blaming herself…' Sarah narrowed her eyes. To be fair, she didn't like Enigma's outburst. The way she pressured her didn't help out either.

But from Enigma's side, she was just trying to protect the relationship of a person close to her.

Considering what Varian told her about Enigma's nature, the fact that she withdrew from the argument was itself a concession.

Sarah looked at Enigma's back and was about to call her when an indifferent, but the shaky voice sounded.

"I-I'm sorry for my behavior."

"Huh?!" Sarah nearly flinched at the unexpected words.

Was this really the leader of Shadow Guardians? The legendary woman wreaked havoc even in the demon abyss.

Sarah opened her mouth in shock and for a moment, forgot to respond.

Enigma took that as Sarah still being angry, understandably so. So, she continued.

"Unless Sia asks me herself, you guys are free to do whatever you want." She emphasized the first part strongly while the latter part was filled with a mix of helplessness and acceptance.

"I hope we never stand against each other," Sarah responded. Even though she was slightly displeased at Enigma's initial behavior, most of her anger subsided.

Of course, if it was any other person, even if they apologized, Sarah wouldn't have treated let them off easily.

But since the circumstances were different, taking the big picture into consideration, Sarah dropped any words that could prolong the conflict.

"If you're really remorseful, apologize to the two." She said lightly.

Enigma nodded and walked out without another word.

Sarah was about to follow her out when she noticed the traces of blood on the window.

'She…'

With a sigh, she shook her head and left the room.

"…and I know this is inconvenient. But please bear with it for now. We'll figure out a solution." Varian said to his friends.

Seeing Sarah and Enigma return, he waved his hand and signaled for them to be seated.

Of the four couches, Varian and Sarah sat opposite each other while Enigma was opposite Kyle and Maya.

An awkward silence ensued as Kyle and Maya tried to avoid Enigma's gaze.

"I apologize," Enigma said lightly, startling everyone except Sarah.

"…" Varian squinted his eyes and wondered if it was still the same Enigma.

'Nah, a patrol team tried to track us down a few minutes ago. She is the real deal.' He reasoned.

"I hope it doesn't happen again," Kyle said and shrugged. "Or I will die a really pointless death."

"What's a pointful death?" Maya poked him lightly.

"…Let's see, a death in the lab is always better."

"Haaa~" Varian shook his head and turned to Enigma.

"I have a few samples of the potion. Can you check them and see if there's anything off?" He waved his hand and the samples that just reached the spaceship were pulled in.

Whoosh!

Three glass vials with a blue liquid floated in front of Enigma.

"Gamma Potion!" Kyle exclaimed.

Earlier, Varian told them that his joining the expo was purely to kidnap Dr. Thomas. It seemed like gamma potion was an added bonus.

Enigma stared at the potion samples intensely and gnashed her teeth. "I'll check them thoroughly."

Her disgust was hard to hide. After all, this was something Xanders came up with from Sia.

Since they didn't have her as the main resource provider, they could only experiment with other sources.

Enigma was confident that whatever alternative they found, it could only be terrible.

After all, good things didn't come for free. Especially, potions that could shake the foundations of civilization.

If Gamma potion could be made without any significant limitation, then it'd only mean that humanity reached a height that it could comfortably crush abyssals.

'It'd take at least a few decades.' Enigma sighed and walked away with the potion samples.

'Aren't you going to say a few words?' Sarah nudged him.

Varian shrugged. Truth be told, he was really pissed off when he saw Kyle and Maya's conditions.

Fortunately, nothing happened to them. If something irreversible did happen…

"Haa~" Varian exhaled and erased the dangerous thoughts in his mind.

"Hey! Boo sent a few videos." Sarah exclaimed and tapped her comm.

Two videos started to play.

The first was a desolate coast from where Kyle and Maya were 'escorted'. It was now locked off by the army.

The second was rather secretive. A few high awakeners in the defense academy sneaked into the amethyst community and breached Sarah's residence.

Kyle, Maya, and Sarah were completely taken aback.

Only then did the weight of Varian's actions began to settle in.

...They were really saved from a horrible future.

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