Darian left the stadium and calmly returned through an underground passage that connected it to the building with the courtyard.

As he entered, Lucy and Lucius ran toward him. Niara smiled and flew over to Lucy; both of them were excited and clearly wanted to celebrate the victory.

Lucius told Darian that Veyle had woken up a little while ago. When he entered the recovery hall, Darian calmly checked her, then looked at the twins.

"I'm feeling a lot better. My body can move freely now, so I want to go to the party tonight," Lucy said quickly.

Veyle still didn't have the strength to get up, and Silas was still in a coma. The five of them were going to receive the blessing of Heaven's Will, but Darian had no idea how that would work with Silas unconscious.

"Veyle should be fine in a few days," Darian nodded as he spoke. "Let's get ready for the party. You guys need to meet our mother's family too."

Niara and Lucy nodded, then kicked Darian and Lucius out of the hall.

Darian sighed and calmly changed clothes... then, he started thinking about the new losses and victories he'd gone through.

His plan to place first in the tournament and draw attention to himself and his clan seemed to have worked perfectly… but who would've thought he'd run into Vanh and end up picking such a big fight?

Back when Mallory threatened him — even though she'd given the order and nearly got his allies killed — Darian had felt more at ease because he knew she wasn't in a rush to take him down, and she wasn't going all out. She'd probably told her contacts on Earth to pressure him as much as they could, but without taking direct action. Now… he was sure things were going to change drastically.

"Every time I achieve something, I end up creating a new problem… well… at least I've been managing everything and avoiding disaster."

He let out a heavy sigh — the air in his lungs felt way too dense. He sat down and let his eyes wander to the window, where the sunset was painting the sky in shades of orange and purple. The pressure he felt was almost tangible.

He took a deep breath… he was doing his best and, more importantly, doing what he believed was right in every situation. No matter what trouble he got into, he had no regrets. But… the lives of a lot of people were tied to his now. Any mistake, and everything could collapse.

In that moment of quiet anguish, he slowly turned around. His eyes met a pair of amber ones watching him with gentleness.

Niara looked like she was glowing, absolutely stunning, ready for the party.

In her transformation, she'd chosen not to keep her wings or any scales, making her soft skin stand out even more. Her blue hair was elegantly tied up, framing her beautiful face. She wore a radiant dress made of golden feathers — an exotic, one-of-a-kind piece she'd ordered after receiving the feathers as a gift from him. Seeing her like that, in the middle of that sunset, brought an unexpected peace.

She walked over gracefully and sat beside him, unrushed.

Slowly, she reached out and touched his hand. Darian, remembering how happy she'd been earlier, just held her hand. There was no warmth coming from her, but the feeling she gave off spread through him — a quiet comfort that started to clear the fog in his mind.

The two of them stayed there, watching the sunset in silence.

They didn't need words — the bond between them let them feel what the other felt. That's why she'd come so quickly, moved by the need to be near him, to keep him from feeling that way, all alone under the weight of his responsibilities.

In just a few seconds, something inside Darian changed completely.

When he took another deep breath, there was no more hesitation. A wave of calm and peace filled his chest, followed by a deep sense of satisfaction. That stillness beside her was like a healing balm. And then, something even newer rose up inside him: the desire to just stay there, unmoving, for who knows how long, just taking in her presence.

He focused on her... then felt something odd... why did she seem kind of excited inside?

"We need to go," he finally murmured, his voice softer than expected, almost reluctant. "You ready?"

She nodded, a subtle, knowing smile lighting up her face.

Darian took a deep breath at that smile... it made him feel like leaning in even closer...

Right then, Lucy and Lucius suddenly showed up, also dressed for the party.

"Let's go…!"

Lucy stopped mid-sentence when she realized she was interrupting something. She looked at Niara, but seeing the glow in her eyes, she knew Niara was already more than satisfied.

***

Early in the evening, on the top floor of a massive building with an open balcony, a grand and luxurious party began.

Only Earth's top figures, the visitors, and the tournament finalists were allowed in.

Earth's leaders were already there — almost all of them. Alexandra, the top names of the Solar Federation Empire, and the people from the Wube family were not present.

At that moment, in one corner of the party, Irana, Udynes, and Barod were chatting with Amara and Haruto. The topic was obvious: they'd noticed Darian had allied himself with them, and were socializing accordingly.

When they found out the group had met during the special mission, Amara first apologized for the trouble caused by people from her empire. Then... when she noticed something odd in Irana's expression, she revealed she was part of Darian's family.

When she saw Irana's look change… Amara felt something was off. Just then, murmurs spread through the room and everyone turned toward the entrance.

There, they saw a pair of twins walking in front, eyes full of curiosity. Right behind them, Darian showed up — and hundreds of people at the party instantly turned their eyes on him.

"Hmph," Niara scoffed beside him and grabbed his arm.

Darian suddenly felt something soft press against his arm and almost jumped in surprise.

He turned to look at her... if it were before, he wouldn't be surprised by something like that, but now Niara had changed — she'd learned not to joke around at the wrong time...

'Sorry, Dan. You're gonna have to deal with this, okay?' her voice echoed in his mind, serious. 'There are way too many moths in this place. All of them wanna fly straight into that big ol' source of light.'

Darian heard that and got even more confused. Moths? Light?

He sighed and didn't ask anything, just kept walking. Then he noticed… a lot of people's expressions had shifted slightly.

Right now, Niara didn't have anything on her that made her stand out from a full-blooded human. She looked like a stunningly beautiful woman dressed to impress… and clinging to his arm like that, she made one thing perfectly clear to part of those watching.

Her amber gaze, sharp like a blade aimed at a few specific people, also helped subtly drive the message home.

Darian saw Amara waving, so he moved in their direction. As he arrived, he sensed something was off...

...Irana and Niara exchanged a silent, intense stare.

'What the hell's going on here?' Darian could only ask Niara mentally.

'Nothing, love. Just introducing myself properly. Sometimes, words aren't necessary.'

Darian was still confused, but chose to ignore it.

"So you guys already know each other — good," Darian said, looking at the group, then turned his gaze to Haruto. Just then, a message popped into his and everyone else's minds.

Unfortunately, that place had too many eyes and ears — everything was monitored, and Darian couldn't say anything out loud or explain much. His mental message to them was simple:

'I'll return to the Divine Protection Universe next cycle. Gather two people you trust completely, then go to the planet of the Abyssal Corrupted Wolves.'

They all heard the message in their minds and didn't react outwardly, so as not to draw attention. Thankfully, in the training universe, there were no divisions between empires or even planets. There, Irana and the others were just one group, and they could act together.

"Cousins, come on. My father wants to meet you," Amara said calmly, and Darian nodded.

Niara didn't let go of him — and Darian, honestly, didn't want her to. In fact, he kind of wanted her to stay right there next to him the whole time.

The four of them were led to a private room away from the party.

As soon as Amara opened the door… the loud voices of a man and a woman having a heated argument echoed out.

They narrowed their eyes and realized Camille, the Empress of the Aeternum Atlantis Empire, was inside the private room belonging to the Polar Circle Empire.

She and Nikolai were in the middle of an argument, but when they saw the newcomers, both stopped and turned their attention to them.

Camille's eyes immediately trembled, making Darian and the twins confused. "You... it's so good to finally meet you..."

"Can I ask why?" Darian stepped forward and asked directly.

Nikolai scoffed. "Don't be fooled by this old hag. When I became a Spiritual Guardian, Camille already had nine rings. She's the oldest among the six empire commanders."

"Fuck off! You're the old one, you bastard!" she shouted, furious.

Everyone in the room tensed up. Camille looked extremely young — no one would guess she was way older than Amara, for example.

Nikolai narrowed his eyes coldly but didn't reply.

She took a deep breath, turned to them... and then gave a slightly awkward smile.

"...I'm just experienced, and I've seen a lot..." she muttered, sighing, then looked the three of them in the eye. "Actually, I'm your great-grandmother."

Darian stayed silent, surprised.

"My only daughter… she was charmed by that bastard… the former leader of the Wube family," Camille said, and her red eyes radiated deep hatred. "I never accepted it and did everything I could to keep her away from those people, but... she left the family and married him anyway... In the end, she had two kids… and died under very suspicious circumstances not long after. I'm sure it was his doing. Anyway... my grandchildren were named Darius and Mallory."

The three of them now understood their family roots. The physical resemblance that Darian and the twins had with people from the Aeternum Atlantis Empire came from that. On their father's side, they were part of both Empress Camille's family and the Wube family. And on their mother's side, they belonged to the Rorik family of the Polar Circle Empire.

"I heard you've abandoned those Wube bastards, right? Good. My Rorik family is willing to take you in and protect you at any cost. Why not come back to the family?" Nikolai didn't waste time and made his move quickly.

Camille's expression instantly exploded into rage. "You old bastard! Can't you wait your turn, for fuck's sake?! I'm the one bringing them back home!"

The five who had just entered all sighed, now finally understanding what that intense argument had been about earlier.

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