"That was dangerous, if we were a second later, we'd have died." Maria Virdis always considered herself a brave woman.
But recalling the brilliant bursts of aura that approached the haunted house just before they vanished, she couldn't help but shudder as she nearly pulled a clump of grass.
"Don't you usually have close death encounters?" Varian asked with a genuinely curious expression as he adjusted himself on a branch.
The gravity in this world was weird and it looked like everything was growing in reverse. If they weren't careful, they'd 'fall' into the sky and into the outer space.
Despite appearing normal, both of them were putting significant effort to not be pushed away by the darn planet into the sky.
"Excuse me?" Maria looked at Varian with a dumbfounded gaze. "I should've clarified this sooner, but what kind of life did you lead again? Who the fuck has close death encounters USUALLY?"
"Woah, woah, calm down, tree girl," Varian didn't expect her to snap. "I mean, I have them every now and then. I thought someone like you—a nasty tree lass with a potty mouth doing a sneaky job in this tower should've had quite a few near-death experiences as well."
"Tree lass? Potty mouth? Sneaky job?" Maria took out her spear and pointed it at Varian. "Take it back before I stab you in the a—"
"Stop! Stop swearing," Varian covered his ears. "Even I don't swear so many fucking times. You're supposed to be a princess? Royal elegance my ass. You resemble those middle-aged women who fight tooth and nail for street discounts."
Maria gritted her teeth as her pride was being thoroughly insulted and trampled. Usually, she was the one in control—putting up her arrogant young lady act and torturing others was something she could do with ease.
But ever since she met this bastard, nothing was going well for her.
He saw through her disguise, learned that she was on a secret mission, learned about her sealed rank secret—no, it was her arrogance, she leaked it herself since she hadn't tasted failure for so long that she forgot she should be careful.
"Fuck it," Maria spat in frustration but the spit started flying into the sky.
"Gross," Varian showed a disgusted expression and moved into a distant tree. "But don't worry, I saved it. I'll send it to your kingdom, whatever it is and your citizens will relish in the beauty of their princess."
Maria couldn't bear it anymore and threw her spear at him. "You're so damn irritating!"
Varian dodged the spear calmly and jumped onto another tree. The tree and all other trees a hundred miles behind it were gone.
The spear wasn't thrown with the intention to kill or even seriously injure, so Varian let her off the hook.
He felt Maria wasn't really an evil person. Just a bit arrogant, a bit too arrogant to be honest but otherwise fine. But he wouldn't mistake her for a kind soul. If she could kill him now to bury the secret, she might.
If he was in her position, Varian knew he'd have made the same choice. All the talks, jokes, and assists until now would be worthless.
"What was that line…you die a hero or live long enough to become a villain," Varian laughed at himself. But he didn't let it get to him.
Still, if his younger self saw the current him, all he'd get was probably hate and disgust. To a nine-year boy with an idealistic outlook, he must be looking like the perfect villain—killing innocents, mass murdering civilians, pushing the entire race to extinction, and doing anything for his goal.
'Well, I don't want to call myself a hero. But I'm not a villain either.' Varian long stopped viewing life in black and white. Perhaps it was since he saw the abyssals side of the struggle.
Or maybe when he saw that abyssal named Ron who wanted to grow stronger and get the herb so that he could cure his comatose little sister.
'I killed a brother who was risking his life for years to wake his little sister and see her smile…' Varian looked into the sky and felt something in the corner of his heart lash out at him.
Conscience.
He didn't like it. It'd remind him of all the misery he caused—most of which he could've never avoided anyway.
Most of the time, Varian was a carefree soul without giving any fucks about the moral costs.
But sometimes like these, when he was just sitting down silently, he'd wonder how much pain and suffering he'd inflicted on others.
Sometimes, he'd justify himself. Other times, he'd wonder if he could've done it better.
The moment he became the Emperor, he resolved himself to do the right thing, even if it was against his conscience.
But if he had to kill an entire race to safeguard humanity, while he could do it without hesitation, Varian wondered if it'd take a toll on his conscience—however nonexistent it remained.
Varian looked at the blue sky and subconsciously smiled.
Sarah's eyes were also blue. Sky blue. They'd change color if she was really angry or cold, but even then, they somehow calmed him.
Varian didn't know the reason either but being with her calmed him down. On the contrary, if he's with Sia, she'd be planning something interesting.
'One is a calm sea which will soothe your heart, the other is a beautiful storm that will pull you in.'
Before he knew it, a gentle smile appeared on Varian's face.
Maria, who was checking her artifacts to figure out the nearest floor entrance, noticed Varian's expression and froze.
The first thing she thought was if she was still on the second floor, trapped in an illusion.
After she confirmed she was not, she thought Varian suffered a spirit injury and was going crazy.
'That'd explain his annoying behavior.'
Maria wanted to rest for a bit before moving to the next floor but she saw a figure falling from the sky and held up her spear. "Trouble."
Varian didn't respond.
"Hey! Baldur!" Maria was pissed off at his lack of response but didn't try waking him any longer.
She swirled her spear, forming a red circle in the air, and shot it at the rank 4 winged woman flying to them.
The winged woman looked like a normal humanoid except for the four wings on her back.
Moreover, her rank was merely a rank 2, and was impaled by the spear. In a blink, the woman's body was broken into dots of brilliant blue light and flew away into the sky.
But Maria's face was unsightly.
'Fuck my luck! Why did I have to meet Sky Hunters so soon?'
The blue lights gathered in the sky and formed the winged woman once again. Only this time, she had three wings instead of four. And her rank had climbed from rank 2 to rank 3.
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