Sia felt a sense of unease. She wasn't sure why, but her heart palpitated as an omnious feeling spread in her chest.
Her breathing turned labored for a second before she pulled herself together.
'Something is wrong…I need to hurry.' She channeled the powers in her body and moved forward.
Whooosh!
As her figure blurred as it appeared and disappeared, Sia moved hundreds of meters every second.
She regretted it.
Her initial plan was to move slower than she could.
For one, since she believed Varian would reach the throne hall with his ghost ship, she was nervous.
Nervous about their meeting.
'He told Enigma he'd regain his memories soon.'
Sia bit her lower lip as her heart ached.
Once he regained his memories, she wondered if he'd still want to see her.
'I…I can only hope my worst fears don't come true.' Sia smiled bitterly.
The closer she got to the exit, the faster her heart beat.
'Stop. I'm entering a dangerous area.' When that thought appeared, Sia channeled her mind power and suppressed her emotions forcibly.
Her shaking eyes calmed down and a look of clarity flashed in her eyes.
'I'm skeptical if any level 9s will dare to enter it. But even if they do, their levels would be suppressed.' Sia kicked the ground and shot forward.
After she entered the rightmost path, huge roars emerged from the rest of the paths. In this maze, she once again took the right path.
'Even if level 9s enter, their levels would be suppressed.' Sia sighed inwardly.
The suppression of levels was something everyone already knew. So, not many level 9 came here in the first place.
'But Charles' team…' Sia's lips parted and a sigh escaped her lips.
She had seen them fight the strongest level 8s. In all honesty, their combined strength was ridiculously high.
'…I'm afraid even Enigma isn't a match.'
If someone knew her thoughts, they'd be stupified. Enigma was in a league of her own in level 8s.
During the Pluto mission, she took on many level 8s herself and stalled them long enough for Varian to steal the treasure.
Yet, Sia of all people said that Enigma might lose against other level 8s.
'I wasn't expecting this when I asked to meet him here…' Sia felt guilty about her wilfulness.
In her defense, she didn't know Charles would act like a mad dog and bring a super precious team to ruins.
'I hope things go well…'
She prayed as she reached the exit.
It was a door bursting with soft white light. The light flickered as if inviting her.
Sia took a deep breath and dashed in.
Space twisted and the world began to spin.
Right then, Sia reached for the silver card deep inside her and channeled her power.
"Enigma…"
***
Even before the world turned to normal, the change began. Enigma noticed a foreign force suppressing her level. Her powers couldn't even fight back as her level plummetted from the peak of level 8 to the peak of level 7 in the blink of an eye.
She was, understandbly, unhappy.
'Can I resist this somehow…?' She closed her eyes anc channeled her powers in a bid to resist this foreign restriction.
But even her 'treasure', which was a notch higher than artifacts failed to accomplish anything.
'…Unless it's taking Charles team head on, I'm positive this is a cakewalk.' Enigma opened her palm and a smooth sword appeared in her hand.
She wasn't being pretentious when she said it was a cakewalk.
Since everyone here's suppressed to be level 7, as a triple awakener, she had an immense advantage.
Even if her expertise wasn't taken into account, her sheer raw power was enough to overwhelm any genius.
But the boost her expertise provided wasn't light.
Enigma could fight multiple peak level 7s and was confident in defeating them.
In case things went south, she had two safety nets.
First, Varian's ghost ship.
Second, her own teleportation artifact.
'Wait, does it even work here…' Enigma's face suddenly crumpled and she 'checked' the possibility of teleporting.
Once she confirmed the result, her expression worsened.
'…Shit.'
There's only one safety net now.
'But surely ghost ship won't have any problems, yes?' Enigma nodded to herself.
Whoosh!
The world suddenly brightened and Enigma found herself in a vast space. The first things that caught her notice was the mysterious silver throne above the staircase.
The next thing that she noticed was the giant circular stage.
'Wait!'
Enigma's mental sense expanded and gave her a clear viwe of the three members on the stage.
One was a badly injured giant wolf sprawled on the floor in a pool of blood.
The other was…Varian!
His eyes were bloodshot, his body was drenched in blood and he kept on beating the wolf with an insane smile on his face.
"Va-Hey!" Enigma suddenly yelled.
Her call attracted the attention of the third person on the stage—a handsome middle-aged man.
He was sneaking upon Varian and upon her call, he stiffened up.
But Varian didn't react and kept punching.
'Phew.'
The man's shoulders slumped in relief and he quickly approached Varian.
"Varian! Behind you!" Enigma shouted.
Boom! Kacha! Bang!
Varian was lost in his own world and the man now was just a few meters away from him.
"Damn it! Sia, you shouldn't have delayed the trial." Enigma gritted her teeth and locked her gravity sense onto the stage.
Then, she created a strong gravitational force between her body and the stage.
As a result, she'd 'fall' towards the stage…
Or at least, that's what's supposed to happen.
"Huh?"
Enigma opened her mouth in shock. She remaind in the same place.
{Welcome} A nasty voice sounded in her mind. {Please Wait Until You Reach The Stage}.
Enigma wasn't in the mood to listen. So, she opened her storage ring and retrieved a talisman.
It wasn't strong, but it had the attack capability of a low level 8 and was very targeted.
'I'll kill him.' Her gaze locked onto the man that was about to sneak attack Varian.
But right then—
{Attack talismans and such are prohibited. The Prince only wishes to view the perfect match.}
Following those words, the talisman in her hands went dull.
"Argh!!" Enigma clenched her fists and was about to jump.
But before she did, she noticed that she was on a thin metal sheet moving towards the stage.
She was moving above a floor of endless darkness.
Even her mental sense couldn't fathom what was beyond it.
It's very risky to jump. If she happened to fall into the darkness, chances were, she'd be in big trouble.
Enigma bit her lip and her tri-color eyes shook.
Then, she looked at the figure on the stage, beating the wolf.
'I…'
She applied the repulsive gravity against the metal sheet she was on and jumped.
"…Whaa!"
An invisible barrier appeared and stopped her from moving.
The nasty voice continued in her mind.
{To win, you need to either kill or throw someone out of the stage.}
Engima's calm bearing collapsed in an instant and she yelled loud enough to break her throat.
"VARIAN!!!"
But before her voice could even reach him, the man on the stage began.
His body turned elementalized into ice and he kicked Varian from behind.
Boom!
Varian flew off the stage and his body shook as if he was slowly getting sober.
Right then, the man appeared above him once again and punched him down.
Boom!
"Stop!"
Under Enigma's desperate scream, Varian fell into the darkness.
A deathly silence ensuded until Enigma reached the stage.
Tap! Tap!
Her footsteps were the only sound in the silence.
The man feeding Charles a healing potion raised his head to meet her eyes.
He shuddered.
"Die!"
A thick killing intent enveloped the entire stage.
"!"