In the dense woods of a jungle, an egg appeared out of nowhere. Unlike the usual, the egg shell was carved with intricate patterns symbolizing lightning, water, muscle and so on.
It was obvious that this egg was far more precious than any other.
Its life scent was an irresestible aroma to the Undead. They quickly grouped up and started rushing toward the egg.
In cases like these, the egg should've been protected by the living beasts that'd come to its rescue. But instead, the living beasts too were fast approaching the egg with a killing intent.
Other than the living scent that every egg gives off, this one also gave off a 'death' scent.
Thus, an unprecedented event in history occured right in this remote jungle. The Living and Undead beasts poured in all from directions. The trees rustled and fell while the ground cracked apart.
From the sky, the forest was being invaded and destroyed at a visible rate. The goal of this invasion was at the center of the forest—the egg.
A high level 9 Zombie Mantis and an equally strong Ape reached the egg first. The Undead and living looked at each other and attacked the egg together.
But the space around the egg fluctuated at the last moment and it disappeared right under the nose of the living and undead beasts.
"…Haaa!" Enigma clutched her chest and collapsed to the ground.
To move the egg under all those gazes, Enigma had to overuse her space artifact. The backlash was quite severe.
Her lungs were burning and her throat was on fire. Despite her mental strength, Enigma dug her fingers into the soil and groaned in pain. Slowly, blood leaked out of her lips and the burning sensation receeded.
On the other hand, Sarah's attention was completely on the egg.
"Come on, come on, come on…" She enveloped the egg with a light curtain and shielded its aura from the rest of the world.
Sarah knew the 'Varian' who would come out of this egg wouldn't have any memory of her. But she'd rather see him like that than as an Undead.
In the worst case, she could form new memories with him and hope for him to regain his old memories one day.
But after seeing how he refused to kill them even when he's an Undead, it was clear that Varian's love was so deep that it became an instinct in and of itself.
Sarah wouldn't have believed if someone said an Undead could try to protect. But here she was. Alive because Varian couldn't bear to kill her.
Then what if that same instinct or love enabled him to remember her?
'Is it too much to hope for a miracle?' Sarah's golden hair fluttered with the wind and her eyes remained fixated on the egg.
As if responding to her wishes, the egg cracked apart and a naked man stepped out.
Varian looked around with the curiousity of a baby. After seeing the blonde girl staring at him intensely and the tri-color haired girl who was slowly getting up, he titled his head and blinked.
"Ehehe," with a weird chuckle, he raised his fists. "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Enigma who just got up only felt a blur in front of her eyes and a huge force struck her abdomen.
The pain of broken pains and torn muscles reached her mind in an instant. Groaning in pain, she stared at Varian's 'innocent' smile as she was sent flying. "V-Varian, I've written this down!"
Not caring about the little threats, Varian reached Sarah and raised his fists.
Unlike Enigma who was terribly exhausted and even injured, Sarah was close to perfect condition.
What's more, after his 'rebirth', the death strand was no longer powering Varian. So, his power returned to his base level. But that base level had gone up significantly compared to before his death thanks to all the fights he'd been through as an Undead.
So, Sarah faced Varian's punch without any fear.
A golden light enveloped Sarah and blocked Varian's attack. Then, a blue fist appeared out of nowhere and punched him in the gut.
"Kuh!"
Varian clutched his stomach and licked the blood leaking from his lips. His playful gaze grew serious and he snapped his fingers out of habit.
Pa!
Sarah's light barrier almost shattered as an invisible force struck it right at the weakest part.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
Then the space cracked at that very part and exploded, bringing her barrier close to breaking.
As if that wasn't enough, a swarm of lightning bolts and ice bullets continued to strike her barrier at the weakest place despite Sarah's barrier being in motion.
"Urgh!" Sarah tried to jump back, to run away and even to counterattack.
But Varian's attacks came like an unending flood and struck her golden barrier. The moment Sarah removed the barrier to try anything else, before she could do anything, she'd be drowned in the endless attacks.
"Is this something a newborn should be like?" Sarah yelled bitterly at her oblivious lover.
Even though rebirth allowed the beasts to keep muscle memory, there would be a great drop in combat skills. Only after living for a significant amount of time and fighting could these reborn beasts return to their full combat experience.
But—
Da!
Varian suddenly elbowed back and the sound of a brick breaking rang in the air.
Enigma who almost succeeded in sneak attacking him was elbowed back and crashed into a mountain.
The battle continued.
Sarah continued to be the main fighter while Enigma supported her from the sides and tried sneak attacks from time to time.
Light spears. Darkness hands. Temporal slow downs. Gravity increases. Raw punches. Illusions.
Everything they could throw at him, they did.
And failed.
Varian suddenly turned around and punched Enigma who appeared behind him.
This was already the sixth time and Enigma had a resigned expression on her face.
The next thing she knew, she fell into the rubble of the mountain she first crashed into.
The pain of broken bones and torn muscles caused her to frown and suck in a breath of cold air.
"Hiss!"