Varian's blood froze as he read the final word over and over again.
Before he knew it, veins popped up on his forehead and his muscles bulged.
His entire body started shaking and a wave of emotions washed over him.
Joy for knowing she existed.
Rage for how Roxana treated her as an object.
Grief at her plight.
Relief that his memories of her weren't mere figments of imagination.
Holding all these emotions, Varian looked for the next page.
His mind path improved his brainpower allowing him to skim through all unimportant information and his heightened body prowess ensured his eyes worked fast enough.
He moved to the next page..and like some earlier, the entries of some dates were missing.
Varian's eyes narrowed and he cautiously moved to the next page.
*** *** ***
Day 15,800:
Haha! Success!
The specimen Sia has Celestial Grade Talent.
Due to the limitation of Earth's technology, I'm not sure if it's low Celestial Grade or mid…or even high?
Something seemed to have increased her talent.
Can it happen to everyone?
But I am sure her talent only recently increased.
Otherwise, even low Celestial Grade talent would ensure a seventeen-year-old girl would be a high awakener.
But she doesn't tell me her secrets.
As a female myself, I'm impressed by her grit. Even if she is electrocuted, frozen to low temperatures, she did not reveal anything about her talents…
*** *** ***
Boom!
Varian slammed the wall of the ghost ship.
The hard metal could withstand the blows of even high awakeners.
So all Varian felt was a tingling pain in his fist. However, he did not stop.
As the rage boiled inside him threatened to erupt, he slammed onto the wall with his fists.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Over and over and over.
Drip!
Soon, blood trailed down the walls and formed a small puddle at the bottom.
Varian was numb to the pain as he kept banging the wall…as if it was Roxana herself.
"Bitch! Why did you die?" He growled.
He couldn't imagine Sia subjected to torture…the lovely girl who stood with him through thick and thin, what did she do deserve this?
"Roxana!" Varian ignored his bloodied fists and took in short, rapid breaths.
His mind started to calm down and he took a healing liquid.
Looking at the mess he made, Varian was bewildered. 'Wait…why am I this impulsive?'
But the feelings of rage he had…they were the most real thing. They were his emotions. Even if he couldn't justify their intensity, their authenticity was undeniable.
Paying no heed to his injuries, Varian hurriedly read the next page.
*** *** ***
Day 15,820:
I failed sometimes, but finally!
I brought Charles to my lab and gave him the boost he never asked for.
His original talent would be weaker than Sia, but thanks to me, he is already in Celestial Grade Talent.
My niece Charles will be the greatest awakener!
He will go beyond the Sovereign state.
Julius, I never shared my core research with you. Do you know why? Because even though I hate my parents, I never intended for them to die.
Besides, are you even my brother? All you ask me is for my research! Fuck you!
Since you are afraid of your son so much, I made your fears come true.
He will surpass you! He will reach heights you could only dream of.
*** *** ***
Day 15, 840:
Sia's mother, oh, adoptive mother apparently died.
I checked the blood samples of Sia with her two family members. They don't match. That was expected.
But I found something interesting.
The wolf that stormed into her house, Sia killed it.
Was this the event that increased her talent, I wonder.
But anyway, I ordered the Astor Clan to take care of the postmortem. Everyone will think it's her mother who killed the wolf.
Tsk.
Ignorant fools.
*** *** ***
Day 15,870:
Sia is too valuable. No one must know of her existence!
She is the key to multiple origins!
If things go well, I can awaken once again!
And I found another use for this specimen!
Using this as leverage, I convinced all the necessary parties to erase the traces of her existence.
Of course, I bet those big bosses don't even know her properly.
They just promised me a favor for the offer I gave them.
Now, everything about Sia is erased from the world.
From today, Sia Konstant never existed in the world.
Every trace she left in the world was removed.
Every memory of her was erased.
*** *** ***
Drip!
Drip!
Varian found his vision blur as he collapsed onto his chair.
All air was knocked out of him as he gasped to breathe in. But his chest was stuffed, he tried to speak, to yell, to scream, but all that came out was a muffled sob.
"S-Sia!" Varian clutched his head and closed his eyes in pain.
So this was how his memories of her were erased?
…all his precious memories of her were overwritten.
"Argh!" Varian wailed like a wounded beast.
His eyes turned red and as his rage reached new heights, something happened.
Click!
An invisible shockwave spread from him hitting the walls of the room.
The sturdy walls of the ghost ship— that even Level 9s could not leave a scratch on started to tremble.
Boom!
Boom!
From the tiniest atom to the largest block, every part in the walls started to vibrate violently.
Soon, the metal walls started to creak and cobweb-like cracks started to appear on them.
Creak!
At that moment, a black and white light shone from Varian's body. Despite their opposite nature, the two lights blended perfectly forming a union—the union light flickered into black and white.
The moment this light touched the walls, they disintegrated.
Even the defensive sections of the walls, the ones that could hold a punch of a Sovereign, collapsed like they were made of sand.
Boo was alarmed and hurriedly set up walls around.
If that light was to spread and break apart the key sections, then the already crippled ghost ship would only be useful as a museum piece.
What's more, they were in the guardian islands, dammit!
If they were stuck here, their only way out was death!
So without holding back, Boo used the precious metal walls and covered the light with them.
These walls could withstand the attacks of a Celestial Ranker for a while. Since they could not be used for fighting, Boo kept them in the storage.
Now, only they could save the day!
But…
Creak!
Under Boo's horrified gaze, the celestial grade walls creaked and started to twist. The next moment, the wall disappeared out of thin air!
Boo stared dumbly at the location the wall used to be.
All it found was Varian floating in the air.
The clothes on his body long disappeared.
Like divinity, the white and black light covered him.
Varian's eyes were closed and he seemed to be unaware of the situation.
"Master!" Boo yelled in panic.
"Master!"
"You'll blow up the ship!"
"You're killing Boo!"
Its cries fell on deaf ears.
Boo's sight shifted to the red journal at the corner and like a drowning man clutching his last straw, it scanned the journal.
"Master! Roxana is dead! She is killed in the lab! Sia could still be alive!" Boo yelled in the last-ditch effort.
Varian's mind at the moment was like a raging ocean. All he wanted was destruction.
This world…was not worth saving.
As his thoughts moved to oblivion, Boo's words cut through the darkness like a beam of light.
"Sia could still be alive."
Everything fell silent.
Varian's body floated down and he gently landed.
The black and white light on his body receded and his eyes snapped open.