"Yo!" Seated on the couch and browsing some random news, Kyle greeted Varian and said excitedly.
"Solar Banquet is approaching! This time, it's hosted by Earth! Do you want to—"
"No thanks. I'm good." Varian cut him off and walked into Sia and Amanda's bedroom.
"Huh? Is it just me or is his voice much softer than usual?" Kyle muttered in loss.
Even after closing the door shut, Varian could hear Kyle's words. Shaking his head, he looked at the white bed with a smile.
He could almost see Sia lying on the bed and smiling at him.
'...I am sorry.'
Realizing the suffering she endured, he felt more and more guilty.
Trying to shift his thoughts, he scanned the room.
The posters containing the solar system, Alpha Centurai and lots of Old Earth information….they were all missing. They were all Sia's collections.
"Roxana, you didn't miss a single spot." Varian remarked in a mocking tone.
She erased Sia from the meta net. Even the insurance company deleted all information related to Sia. Heck! Even the pictures of the solar system were gone!
Roxana nearly succeeded in erasing all traces of her existence.
Nearly.
There was surely one place was she oddly wasn't able to remove her traces.
Him.
"If someone erased my memories, then why can I still remember?" Varian rubbed his chin and thought out loud.
But even regarding his memory, she nearly succeeded.
He forgot about her. Her existence became nothing but a dream that haunted him.
The reason he was able to start remembering her....it all started with the memory of his mother's final moments.
'Save Sia.'
As he thought back to her words, Varian wondered why his mom said those words. Even Roxana did not know about Sia when the incident happened.
So what should he save her from from?
Her problems as a...hybrid?
Varian shrugged. He was not sure.
But it all started with that one memory. One truth.
He couldn't help but recall System's words when it showed him the scene.
[For you, not awakening for 18 years is a tremendous pain. But what is given to you is the Truth you would never know otherwise.
In fact, you won't get it now. Only once you know the whole truth will you understand how important it is and how fair it is]
Varian wrote it off as rubbish in the past. He never thought he would actually consider those words seriously.
But today, now, he did.
'I awaken like everyone, and after Roxana's deed, I forget everything about Sia...
or
My awakening is halted, but in exchange, I would have a chance to remember her.
What would the past me choose?
....What would I choose?'
Varian's thoughts spiraled.
Even more importantly, he did not recover his complete memories yet. So the so called truth might be much bigger than he expected it to be.
For instance, the thought about something like 'Hybrids' did not even cross his mind.
Instead of being lost in his thoughts, he covered his face and chuckled. "It doesn't matter. Once I meet Sia, everything will be alright."
Truth be told, he could feel his heart racing.
He was never so excited, but he forced himself to be calm.
Even with Boo's speed, it would take at least a few hours to find out the exact location of Shadow Order.
Till then, Varian decided to search up information on Enigma and hybrids.
There was nothing about Hybrids. Not a thing.
Enigma…
"Boo, show me information on Enigma." Varian spoke to his comm which was connected to the little ghost AI.
"Mhuahaha…ah? Yes, Master." Boo stopped its maniacal laughter and answered.
The next moment, hundreds of holograms popped up in front of him, all related to Enigma.
'Did I drive Boo insane?' Varian thought at Boo's laughter. But as it replied, he patted himself on the chest and shook his head.
"I am underestimating Boo. With your prowess, your can even scan the suns, no?" Varian smiled to the comm.
"…Eh? Hello? Hello? I can't hear you, master. Bye." Boo terminated the contact.
Varian was taken aback but decided not to think much of it. He probably frightened the cute ghost.
Then, he started leafing through the holograms.
Boo browsed through the deep net and sorted out all the relevant information. It seemed like when the incidents first happened, they didn't know it was Enigma.
But after finding the patterns, they designated her as the perpetrator.
>> First confirmed appearance:
'…in the Demon Abyss. She slaughtered a rising Abyss Prince and every Abyssal in his castle.'
It was three days after Roxana's death.
The record had a few pictures of the aftermath.
A huge mountain was cleaved into two and fragments of metal and concrete from what seemed to be a former palace were scattered everywhere.
More strikingly, the land was filled with green blood forming almost a small lake. There were broken limbs, torsos and split Abyssal bodies.
The Abyssals were shocked by the incident and believed it was the ploy of army.
They started a skirmish in retaliation.
>> Second confirmed appearance:
'Enigma ended a secret stronghold of Shadow Order. It was also the first public appearance of Shadow Guardians.'
Even though it was hid from the public under as a terrorist attack, this was the point from when the hostility between Order and Guardians turned hot.'
Varian raised an eyebrow at the records. There was also a small video.
Enigma was leading the charge and fighting with a dozen Level 7s whilst the two hundred strong Guardians were slaughtering the five hundred plus members of the Order.
It was said that Shadow Guardians recruited volunteers after a few tests…so one would usually expect some novices.
But looking at their fight, Varian realized that all of them were veterans.
Their team work, danger response, combat experience—every single element was at the level of a professional soldier.
Shadow Guardians….everyone underestimated them.
To gather such a team, any normal Level 7 or even Level 8 Awakener would need at least half a year.
Then to achieve the level of teamwork they had shown, even veteran soldiers need to fight together for at least a year.
'Did the Shadow Guardians form just form a year and half before Enigma's public appearance or…'
Varian shook his head, unwilling to think further.
As he leafed through the holograms, one detail caught his attention.
>> Enigma suspected to be entering Mars' Deva Ruins
>> Enigma's suspected appearance in Venus' Deva Ruins
>> …Uranus's Ruins
>> …Neptune's Ruins
"She…is odd." He muttered.
Deva Ruins were similar to Dungeons—they were their own little worlds.
There were Eight Ruins, one per each planet.
Every year, a Ruin was open only for 45 days—a month. A Runic Calendar's year consisted of 360 days and 8 Months—each month corresponding to a certain planet's Ruin in their astronomical order.
For instance, the third month—Trios, was when the third planet in the solar system, Earth's Ruins opened.
And the eight month, Octav was when the eighth and the final planet—Neptune's Ruins opened.
Looking at Enigma track record, she was active in planets when their ruins were about to open.
She was looking for something.
"But what is left to explore?" Varian furrowed his brows and pressed his palms to his forehead.
Ruins sure held important secrets. The biggest of them being the Artifacts. After humans got their first generation of Sovereigns, Ruins were explored ardently.
After decades of exploration, all the 'unique' treasures of the Ruins were plundered.
Sure, there were new treasures appearing in the Ruins now and then, but the highest was a 9 star treasure equivalent—be it a weapon, an item or an elixir.
Usually, Ruins were only helpful for Level 7s and at most Level 8s.
If Enigma was a normal Level 8, it'd be normal. But the way she frequented every Ruin was suspicious.
"I guess I'll only know after I enter." Varian shook his head and reached for the last hologram.
>> The Guardians and the Order fought on a planetoid. Abyssals ambushed. The Guardians suffered significant losses.
"…hm." Varian leaned back into his chair and reached a conclusion.
Unlike Shadow Order, Shadow Guardians did not have that much of a strong footprint on planets other than Mercury, Venus and Earth—the Inner Belt.
Enigma was trying her best to end the Shadow Order on Earth. But three things blocked her—Abyssal support, moving and hidden Secret Realms, and strong presence on other planets to back up losses in the Inner Belt.
Varian was already solving the second one with Boo and had measures against the first as well as third obstacles.
Communication.
If he could hack into Order-Abyss communication channels and Shadow Order communication across the planets, he could neutralize their threat.
But the problem was that they were likely going to hold multiple methods of communication.
So he had to find more samples of their communication devices and let Boo crack them.
If he could hack the majority of their communication channels, even if he missed a couple secretive ones, he'd be able to restrain them mostly.
Or if he let them go, soon, under Abyssals' support and reinforcements from other planets, Shadow Order would once again rise on Earth.
"I'll need to find enough of those scum and take their communication devices. If I control their communication, I control their life and death." Varian gave a wolfish grin.
He was doing it mostly to convince Enigma.
But there was also a small but strong part of him that wanted to end them. Especially since he was almost killed by them last time. And the way they almost killed Sarah irritated him.
Regardless of his reasons, he was betting Enigma would agree.
For one, she seemed incredibly busy.
Every time Shadow Guardians suffered a loss, she would show up and retaliate.
But considering that she was running all over the Solar System in her mission for Ruins, it'd be time and resource consuming.
So if she could consolidate her organization on Earth, then she could use it as a spring board for her future missions.
As Varian imagined his meeting with Sia, a light flashed and a ring enclosed itself on his finger.
Boo's voice, filled with a mix of glee, anger, and exasperation sounded. "Master, I marked the five Secret Realms.
Three can be accessed from land. One is high in the sky and the other is deep in the ocean."
Of course, in this day and age, there were human settlements even in the depths of ocean. But nothing like an actual city.
In short, there was no problem going to them.
"Good." Varian stood up and controlled the ring.
The next moment, he was leaning back into the luxurious black chair in the ghost ship's cabin.
"Post an announcement on the dark web addressing Enigma.. The content is…."