A large group, just over two hundred people, quietly made their way onto the member planet of the galaxy.

Right away, Darian, Lucius, and Lucy activated their powers. Ever since the twins got their second ring, their strength had multiplied — along with their usefulness.

Now, they could help keep Darian's dark power stable on everyone, letting the cloak grow thicker around them all and stopping the Risen Commanders from sensing them from too far away.

After fighting for so long and devouring tons of dark karma, Darian could spend a good chunk of energy to do this — but with so many people, the cloak would've scattered fast without the twins' help.

Darian nodded once he saw everyone ready. As he focused on the surroundings, he suddenly felt Niara's heartbeat speed up.

'Dan! The Heart of Nature is reacting… something here is connected to it.'

Darian was caught off guard by that. Connected? On this dead, corrupted planet?

He took a deep breath. Maybe it was an opportunity… or a disaster. But if Niara was sensing it this clearly, he could at least calm down a bit.

'Let's move carefully toward the center. Stay focused on feeling that connection,' Darian murmured, and she nodded.

The group moved quickly. Darian was way more powerful now than when he'd invaded the previous member planet. He could sense all the Risen in a much larger area — and in much greater detail.

It didn't take long to notice… everything was way too quiet, way too easy.

It was just like that other invasion. But the Risen Lords should've reinforced this place by now...

A day passed. Then they reached the area with the highest concentration of miasma on the whole planet. They had managed to move stealthily the entire time without triggering anything, but here, several massive Risen Commanders were lurking around.

They kept going, slow — painfully slow.

Suddenly, Niara stopped. Everyone behind her froze, tense.

She took a deep breath, feeling the Heart of Nature in her Dantian.

Meanwhile, Darian was trying his best to sense what was wrong. But he didn't feel any unusual Risen around. Sadly, this was one of his weaknesses: if it was some kind of artifact or something non-living with no karma, it'd be hard for him to notice.

'Dan, I'm sure… just ahead, there's something buried underground. If we move forward, we'll get really close… it's definitely a trap.'

She finished, and Darian stared ahead, tense. Push forward and hope they didn't get caught? He wasn't stupid. The Risen Lords left something there because they were sure he couldn't get past it.

Darian turned to Howlyn and explained everything mentally. She was the only one who might have an idea what that thing was.

'Hmm… wood-type power… there are a lot of possibilities… and each one has a different way to confirm — and maybe fix — the problem,' she murmured, thinking. 'I can go ahead and check it out. With my powers, I'll be able to send you a message from a distance, telling you exactly what it is.'

'Sacrifice yourself? No way. Don't ever say that again,' Darian said seriously, and she nodded quickly, a bit emotional. 'It's something tied to the Heart of Nature and, as a result, to wood power... there can't be that many things like that...'

Howlyn explained seriously, 'My Lord, in every galaxy conquered by the Risen, there were beast races or natural life forms that weren't corrupted or wiped out. The Mannaz believe they all died... but actually, those who submitted and had some use were kept alive. Of course, to survive, they can't stay in corrupted places like the Risen do. So they're locked in small sealed worlds, where corruption doesn't exist or is way weaker. Which means... there are dozens of plant-type races that use wood power and could potentially bond with Lady Niara.'

Darian nodded. That explained why there were Mannaz traitors. They believed that once the Risen conquered the whole universe, they'd be allowed to live in places like that. It was like a fish begging a fisherman to be taken to an aquarium — it would live trapped and isolated forever... but once the Risen controlled the whole universe, would they really see any use in them?

He thought seriously about the possibilities. Only then did he remember something he'd heard from Camille a few days ago...

When the empire got the seed of the World Tree to bring to Earth, the tree gave it away without asking for anything. Her words were: "In the whole universe, only one World Tree can exist, that's the law. Anyone who asks for a seed, I'll give it to them. If a World Tree hasn't naturally grown in a universe, it'll sprout easily with this seed."

Luckily, Earth's people were the first. So, there'll never be another one in that universe.

Darian asked Howlyn, "Did the Risen Lords... happen to capture a World Tree in this universe?"

Suddenly, Howlyn's eyes changed.

'Yes.'

She answered, and her mind started racing for a few seconds. After turning to him, she spoke quickly:

'My Lord, there's a chance the World Tree's power is just ahead... but if that's true... we're in serious trouble. The whole Academy is close to a huge crisis.'

Darian took a deep breath. Only now did he tell Howlyn that Niara's new power came from a World Tree. It was an important detail, but he hadn't thought it was worth mentioning before.

With that revelation, Howlyn was now completely certain... and a deep fear appeared in her eyes.

'The power of the World Tree can only be used... if that place is open.' She took a deep breath, and her face turned pale. 'With even the most basic power of the World Tree... anything alive, even if it only has a tiny trace of life, can be detected. This power doesn't have any offensive abilities on its own. We could try to move forward, but it'll detect us, and the Risen Lords will arrive immediately.'

Darian nodded. His disguise could fool the senses of weaker Risen, but it was far from perfect. Even a Risen General could spot them if they got close. There was no doubt they'd be caught if they advanced.

She kept speaking, clearly tense: 'If the World Tree's power is active... that means the connection to the World of Life is open. My Lord, we need to get in there and stop them before it's too late.'

He looked at her and saw the clear desperation in her eyes.

'That place was kept specifically to keep the World Tree alive. The gates open randomly, every one to three thousand years, and it's impossible to predict exactly when. When they open, they stay open for two months, and the Risen can extract all the World Tree's potential. On the final day... an army of millions of enemies, even harder to kill than a Risen Lord, will come out of that place. They'll definitely be used to attack us. With their combined power, whether it's attacking the barrier or defending the member-planets... everything will get insanely hard.'

Darian let out a long sigh. Things really couldn't be easy for him. But where there was danger, there was also opportunity. He trusted Niara's senses completely, and also Howlyn's words.

'We're going back. Plans have changed,' he said seriously, and everyone heard him in surprise.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.