After sensing a huge change, Darian didn't attack. He appeared in the skies with his physical form visible, floating with the help of the wind runes.

Then, his gaze shifted toward a faraway point on the horizon.

"HAHAHAHA… if you think you'll get out of here alive, forget it." The man spoke with a sinister laugh. "I'm a descendant of the Radiant King, and I received his inheritance before coming to this desert. Now, all of you will become fertilizer for my King's creation!"

*BUZZ!*

The whole environment began to hum and vibrate. It felt like giants were running under the ground, and everyone could feel it with fear…

It didn't take more than five seconds before the horizon turned into a blood-red sea. Still distant, but the 'giants' were actually tens of thousands of enemies rushing forward.

Darian watched it with a serious expression. What was coming… was none other than the Millennial Abscess and its colossal army of shadows.

Through that man's karma, Darian saw part of the truth. The Abscess hadn't become that powerful by accident. In reality, it had been manipulated to exist in that form.

He couldn't see all the details through karmic vision, only glimpses where the target committed terrible acts and piled up huge amounts of black karma. Then, he witnessed a relatively recent scene.

That man was dragging almost fifty creatures of different races on a cart. The only thing they had in common was that they were all at level 4, considered the peak of power in the desert.

Covered in blood and chained, they were in a pitiful state. They were taken near the place where the Millennial Abscess was. Then, the man activated something in his body.

A white, pulsating rune left him, floating toward the city where the Abscess resided.

Soon after, several shadows appeared and calmly took the prisoners away, ignoring the man completely.

The only other clue Darian got was the ecstatic reaction of that fool, who let slip from his lips:

"Uncle created an incredible weapon. In just two more generations… this will be able to leave here and the war will be won."

After that, the vision ended.

Two things became clear. First: that man possibly still had the ability to control the Millennial Abscess, if he wished. Even if Darian went all out, he wasn't confident he could kill him before the Abscess was summoned.

That's why Darian limited himself to scaring him, showing off his superiority. It wasn't his style to do that, but he learned how — because Niara liked it and encouraged him to look cool.

This time, though, it had a purpose. That man, wrapped in fear and jealousy, called it right away. That way, Darian didn't waste his energy. Now he could deal with the problem using everything he had.

The other point that became clear was… if Darian had ignored the thieves and assassins to focus only on the special mission, then at the start of the battle that man might've done something that would've caught him completely off guard.

The chances of Darian turning that around without suffering countless losses were slim. His choice to face the thieves and assassins — even without gaining anything, just to help the people left behind in the desert — was exactly what gave him the chance to discover this in time.

*GWAAAAAR!*

Thunderous roars of a colossal army echoed from the south.

All the little Heavenly Elemental Spirits took a deep breath, realizing the plan had completely changed.

Before, Darian planned to quickly wipe out those idiots. Then they'd deal with the real enemies, applying a well-structured tactic of encirclement and slow advance against the shadows, taking advantage of their lack of intelligence.

But now… not even a third of the thieves and assassins had been defeated, and the army of shadows would enter the battle all at once, swallowing them whole.

They were already the minority, so they had to act with absolute precision. For any other army, this would be a desperate situation. But… none of them showed fear or hesitation in their eyes.

They all lifted their eyes to the skies, where they saw a calm figure watching the new enemies approach.

They sighed and smiled, full of energy and determination.

They didn't need to think about anything or worry about anything. They just needed to fight and follow his orders. Whether in victory or in death, they wouldn't regret standing by his side.

Since birth, all of them had lived in hell — hunted and forced to learn how to survive alone in the hostile desert. If they once thought life was harsh, when they were captured by the beasts, they left hell only to be thrown into purgatory.

In that forge, they watched their brothers being refined, suffering day after day until death, all right before their eyes.

They lived each day just waiting for the moment their turn would come, not understanding why they had to suffer so much just to exist. Many of them stayed trapped there longer than the time they had actually lived free after birth, because the experiments and tests were so slow until they were finally declared failures.

When they were finally freed and brought to the city, at first they couldn't believe that everything had changed for good.

But day after day, in a place inhabited only by those they could trust... they quickly started to feel like they were living in a dream.

They began to truly live, with complete freedom to have fun, fight, or simply do nothing all day long, in absolute peace if that's what they wanted.

The only thing he asked was that they trusted him and, if they wished, fought by his side.

All the Heavenly Elemental Spirits chose to fight and do everything they could to help him. They would kill themselves without a second thought, just to make sure others of their race could have the same two years of full life they had.

Suddenly, Darian's firm voice echoed: "Awel, Tir, Eleri."

"Yes, brother Darian!" The three immediately answered.

He continued: "The plans have changed. You three come with me, we'll hold back the shadows while the others finish off these ones."

"Hahahahahaha... what an excellent plan!" The man laughed loudly, having overheard the conversation thanks to his powers. "So it's gonna be a contest with me? Let's see if I kill all your little friends here first, or if you finish off the shadows before that. Is that it?"

At that moment, Darian slowly turned toward him.

His expression was pure indifference, like he was looking at some ridiculous clown. "You're nothing but an irrelevant annoyance."

After speaking, all of a sudden, the wind runes around him pulsed.

"Young master, watch out!" Suddenly, the assassins and thieves let out screams. They had noticed a demonic figure appear behind him out of nowhere. When they saw that presence, everyone froze in horror.

*Pierce*

Before the man could even react, a dagger brutally stabbed into his back.

"You're a pretty tough cockroach. Killing you quickly, without wasting too much, is hard... but, lucky you. Turns out I'm a specialist in dealing with people like you."

All of a sudden, the man's eyes bulged, almost popping out of their sockets.

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