Chapter 850: Breaking A Promise
"Artifact?" Enigma flipped back in the air as she avoided the poisonous flower petals approaching her.
With a wave of her hand, the gravity field around her change subtly and guided these flowers toward other Abyssals.
"Hmph!" With a snort, the two Abyssals facing her channeled their prana and forced the flowers back toward her.
Looking at their arrogant faces, Enigma was pissed. A black sword emerged out of her palm and shot at an Abyssal.
When he was about to escape, the gravity around him changed. His right hand was pulled to the right and his left hand was pulled to the left. It was as if someone was stretching him in all directions and freezing him in place.
"D-Damn you!"
The other Abyssal spat and turned his arms into branches to block the sword and defend his friend.
However, a very subtle psychic power attacked his brain and turned him slightly sluggish.
He still put up a defense, but it had a single big flaw. It was too weak in one place.
Using that very flaw, Enigma's sword pierced through the branches and lodged itself in the Abyssal's chest.
"Argh! Arghhh!" The Abyssal was engulfed in a pitch-black light. His hair, his skin, and even his eyes turned black for a split second before he waved his hands.
"Hey? Hey, I can't see!" The Abyssal's eyes were covered by a dark aura.
It wasn't just his vision, even his smell and touch were suspended.
"Gulp!" The Other Abyssal gulped in fear. But he had no intention to escape and was about to put himself to death when he noticed Enigma's offensive slowed down.
She was focused on the Sovereign and Queen's battle.
'Did Micheal give her the artifact to remove the suspicion on him? Or is he not the traitor but Julius is?' Enigma didn't understand.
But she had long learned to not judge a person by their apparent actions. Even if it might appear to be a good action, the intentions and end game could be quite sinister.
Still, it was undeniable that Irene gained an edge only because of the artifact.
"I need to think this through."
— — — —
Varian felt a change in the Abyss' crack a while ago. Upon an initial probe, he discovered that the Abyss Will had disappeared! At first, he suspected it was just a trap.
But after seeing the fight at the World Tree, he realized something. Even with an upper hand, Irene might or might not be able to destroy the crystals
It was a 50-50 chance.
If she failed, then they'd be up against Abyssal's masterpiece! His experience told him that if the Abyssals did succeed, then his race might really go extinct.
Rather than bet everyone's fate on Irene, Varian decided to take things into his own hands.
"...This counts as breaking my promise, doesn't it?" Varian smiled wryly.
Abyssals were so sure of his death that Enigma persuaded him to not participate in this war anymore. He agreed and even promised.
Entering the Abyss meant he was going to break that promise.
Varian struggled, but only for a moment before he ordered the Ghostship into the Abyss.
Would you hold onto your promise or break it to increase the survival chances of the whole world?
Of course, every action had a consequence.
It's just unknown until the time really came.
— — —
With a thunderous roar, a lightning bolt suddenly struck the giant tree and diverted Despair Queen's concentration.
Irene used this wondrous opportunity that she meticulously created and twisted the gravity around the Giant Tree's base.
The Tree's roots burst apart and the Tree itself toppled due to the sudden pull.
Despair Queen quickly channeled her prana and was about to get back into her stance.
It'd happen very quickly. But for Irene, it was not a negligible time.
She locked her gravity sense onto the World Tree and changed the gravity.
The World Tree attracted her strongly and in a blink, Irene was pulled towards the Tree.
"No!" Knowing what's going to happen, Despair Queen despaired.
She tried to use Abyss Will to block her, but the Abyss Will itself was blocked by the Nature Seed.
"Arghhh!"
In the backdrop of Despair Queen's unwilling roar, Irene reached the World Tree. With a snap of her fingers, the World Tree shook violently.
It was the strongest tree in the Despair Abyss and also the fiercest. Even if level 9s came to besiege it, it had enough power to defend itself. If it was just a few level 9s, it could even strike back and kill them.
But the one in front of it was someone far more powerful than a level 9.
Since the start, the World Tree had no chance.
So, the moment Irene's gravity wave hit it, the World Tree was forcibly torn apart into two halves. Even having the best defense out of all species didn't save it.
The World Tree was torn, revealing the countless 'floors' of the World Tree, including the countless Abyssals.
This included crucial officials, geniuses, and even many recuperating high awakeners.
Of course, at the bottommost floor, even a step below the ground floor was a special floor with a coffin. Surrounding the coffin were eight crystals that were shining brightly and pouring dark energy into the coffin.
Irene's eyes turned cold and she controlled her gravity sense to rip apart this coffin. But before she could it, tens of thousands of Abyssals in the World Tree attacked her.
Even if she's a Sovereign, she didn't want to take on so many attacks at once. But that didn't mean she had no way.
"Hmph!" With a snort, Irene reached the secret floor. The coffin emitted a weird aura and reeked of malice.
"Wait!" Despair Queen roared and shot her vines toward Irene at the fastest speed she could muster.
But if Irene wanted to do something, it was already too late.
And Irene did want to do something.
She appeared above the coffin and enveloped the crystals in a gravity field. When they're destroyed, the aftermath would be very high.
So, after closing up the crystals in a gravity field, Irene clenched her fists and was about to crush them to powder.
Despair Queen was far away.
Abyss Will was busy.
The masterplan of the Abyssals was finally—
A sharp pain hit Irene's body before she flew out and crashed. Dust filled the air and clouded everything.
Clutching her bleeding abdomen, Irene stood up.
"W-What the?"
But the scene in front of her caused her to widen her eyes in disbelief.