In a devastated region, with the ground torn apart and trees fallen and twisted in all directions...

...a hand burst through the soil from below.

Niara emerged from the earth with a tense expression, covered in blood. That artifact… for them to have escaped instantly, they could only have teleported a short distance away. So, they must've been hit by part of the explosion too.

As soon as she came out, Darian healed her completely. Then... he took a deep breath...

No one else could see it, but an endless sea of black lines was slithering along the horizon. The karma of all the dead was flowing toward him like a tsunami.

Niara took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. It had been a dangerous raid into the enemy's main base, followed by a precise and terrifying escape. She focused on Darian and smiled, thrilled. Ever since he'd entered her life, everything was exciting — and she never felt alone again.

Minutes later, Darian was done, now holding more white and black power than when he entered that World of Life. He sharpened his senses and focused on that distant place...

"They both got away."

Niara scoffed. "Great. Last time was almost a draw. Next time, I'll crush them."

Darian nodded. Niara really was competitive and loved to fight.

"By my count, we killed at least two-thirds of the Risen Chiefs. Adding that to half of the beasts from before... we stirred up so much chaos that our plan should unfold perfectly," Darian said, thoughtful. "The seven days are almost up. Let's head back."

Niara nodded and got up. She turned toward the direction where everything began and spread her wings.

...

The return was smooth and uneventful. After several hours, Niara sensed a strong wood power up ahead.

When she got there, she saw a figure sitting cross-legged — the one radiating that supreme natural power. But it flowed into the earth and was invisible and undetectable to ordinary people.

Probably only she and the sprouts in that world could easily sense it — and if Darian knew exactly where to look, he could too.

It was Athven, in a humanoid form, who had remained there the entire time, focused on gathering power and connecting with everything around.

Nearby, all eight groups were waiting for Darian's return. Niara also noticed several new faces — and a few familiar ones.

She landed close by, and then Athven opened their eyes. "Lord, they went to the Risen Lord's seal."

Darian nodded. That was expected. "They didn't attack right away. They're probably planning and will strike in a few days. We don't need to hide either."

"I gathered some of the power in the soil. I can create a small area for us to prepare," Athven said.

Darian nodded in agreement.

Athven's body turned into light. The metamorphosis ended, and then their true form appeared: the World Tree, which pulsed, radiating immense natural power.

Quickly, a whole five-hundred-meter area around them closed off, creating a boundary between inside and out. No one from the outside could see in or enter without being noticed.

The ground inside turned green, the air became pure, and nature began flourishing rapidly within.

The twins and their Summoners ran over to Darian. Right behind them, several figures approached with eyes full of excitement.

At the front of them all stood a Dragoness with a blank expression.

"Vahnu... you..." Niara murmured the name of the High Elder of Celestia Academy — the same one who, back in the abyssal nest, had approached them with several other rookies at the time.

Vahnu nodded. Behind her were the novice Summoners and Spiritual Guardians who had gathered back at the abyssal nest. (Chapter 39)

After everything ended, they stayed by Niara's side, hoping Darian would return and that she was still a Summoner. But after months passed, Niara herself left the academy without saying anything, leaving all of them desperate.

Then came that attack in another galaxy, and they stayed behind at the academy... but ended up trapped by the old leader, with no way to resist.

It was Lucy and Lucius who, after all that fighting ended, freed the rookies.

They found out that once again, it was Niara who saved them — and that Darian had returned. But they didn't get to see or talk to her before she left. Now, finally, they were seeing her again.

"Big sis..." one of them whispered.

Niara let out a long sigh. Back then, she was shaken and depressed because she thought Darian wasn't coming back. She felt like she had to die fighting, alone. That's why she couldn't stay close to them and ran away. After that, she kept avoiding them because she felt ashamed of how she'd acted.

"Good to see you all again. It's not easy finding people you can trust," Darian said calmly in her place — making Niara feel a warmth spread through her chest.

"Go get some rest. Later, when we're back at the new academy, you can catch up."

Everyone nodded and smiled. Behind them, there were also dozens of Summoners and their partners. None of them were traitors — Darian had obviously checked all their karma.

"Bro, we found the place where everyone who got captured was being gathered by those Risen trees," Lucy said, clenching her fists.

Lucius added with a sigh, "Depending on who captured them, the outcome was different. The beasts killed and devoured them right away; only the Risen from outside would corrupt and absorb them. But the Risen trees would take them somewhere and slowly refine them… by the time we found them, a third had already been refined."

Darian gave a heavy nod.

The beasts were split into two groups: the ones from that island took their captives back there, while the wild ones just ate them on the spot. Those rookies were lucky — if they'd been caught by any other group, they'd be dead by now. But since they were captured, Lucy and Lucius were able to track the spot and save them in time.

As for Vahnu...

"I tried to protect them… but I was defeated and my partner died…" she said, eyes trembling.

She was no longer a Summoner, and the pain she felt was indescribable.

"Celestia Academy... sent us here to die... when we got surrounded, they focused on stealing our spatial rings with some weird technique, which made it impossible for us to escape alive. There's no way they could've pulled that off…" Vahnu muttered.

Darian nodded. "Yeah, most of the main Summoners from Celestia Academy are traitors. Once you went in, you were never coming out alive. That's why I founded the other Academy and cut off all connections. There was no way to save the universe with so many daggers aimed at my back."

Vahnu's eyes trembled as she looked at him.

"... I know this won't ease your pain, but as you can see, there are plenty of regular Mannaz here with me, fighting. You can still help your universe even if you're not a Summoner anymore. I don't have an official High Elder yet, what do you think?" Darian asked gently, trying to comfort her.

She nodded, clenching her fists.

Darian called Howlyn over and introduced the first High Elder of the Academy.

After that, the leaders of the eight groups gathered.

Lucy and Lucius had spent most of their time searching for hiding spots to rescue Summoners and their partners, so they didn't manage to collect much.

But the other six found a lot of valuable stuff. Natural herbs and many fragments of ancient weapons were recovered. The center of the battlefield still had a ton of broken items buried from the battle long ago.

To most people, that stuff was useless: twisted chunks of broken metal and average medicinal herbs.

The herbs weren't top-tier, but Veyle was still learning to be an alchemist and needed mid-level materials. These herbs weren't amazing, but they were really pure since they grew in that place. They were a great treasure for her to practice with.

As for the broken equipment fragments, Haruto and Amara had a lot of plans to make good use of them.

Darian handed the crystals to Veyle. "Everyone's going to need potions to heal the corruption. These crystals were used for that in the past."

She nodded, excited. She and her Summoner moved over to a corner and pulled out a portable cauldron from her spatial ring.

Meanwhile, Amara, Haruto, and their allies also had portable forging tools they'd bought in that universe. They got together in a corner and began setting up.

Darian and Niara approached the roots of the World Tree. That's where all the Abyssal Corrupted Wolves were.

Howlyn's group had focused on something other than treasure: they hunted down every Risen they could find. That's because those corpses were divine food for that race.

That species could grow stronger by eating twisted stuff — though of course, the Risen were way beyond what they could normally handle. Still, they couldn't fall behind, so they had to try.

Darian stepped closer, ready to give the go-ahead for the wolves to start eating. He planned to use the white power to remove the corruption. That way, the wolves could devour the Risen bodies safely and grow stronger.

"Lord, I can handle this," Athven's voice came softly. "I can stop the corruption from taking root in them. And I can help them digest it faster, so they'll have time to get ready for the battle."

Darian perked up at that. He looked at Howlyn and gave the nod to proceed.

Soon, three mountains of Risen corpses appeared. The wolves were practically drooling at the sight. Once she gave the okay, they all leapt in and started eating, their tails wagging excitedly.

Howlyn and Niara chuckled quietly. All those wolves were under a year old, raised to grow fast. They were just big pups — and if you ignored their terrifying power, they were kind of cute.

Watching their power rise right before his eyes, with the World Tree giving perfect support, Darian felt relieved.

The young wolves stayed near the newly arrived Summoners and their partners. They'd train together, getting ready to survive the coming battle.

Everyone was now fully focused. In just a few days, the enemies would be at their doorstep for an all-out war.

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