CHAPTER 280: IT WAS THE END

The little pixie on the Summoner’s shoulder pulsed. A dense brown power, radiating pure earth energy, flared up — it was a solid elemental barrier. At the same time, her blessing activated, and the ring’s power flowed out, merging together and taking form.

It all happened super fast. Clekul raised her defenses, and her elemental spirit was already being summoned again, but...

*BANG!*

Niara’s fists smashed straight into the Summoner’s face, completely ignoring the defenses and blasting her and her summon away like a shooting star.

The brutal sound left everyone on the battlefield stunned. They looked toward the center and saw Niara, covered in black scales, while the little dragon was cloaked in pure white energy.

Across the field, inside the light cage, the Risen dwarf roared with everything he had, swinging a black hammer.

*Crash!!*

But his body was violently slammed into the cage, smashing through his metal defenses. It wasn’t the first time — he looked like a metal doll being brutally thrown into a wall over and over again.

Lucius and his Summoner were completely locked in, relentlessly attacking with Darian’s dagger.

That Risen dwarf, now trapped inside Lucius’s technique, could feel all his corrupted energy weakening — his flow was way slower than normal. He didn’t stand a chance to fight back and could only rely on his defenses to hold out and hope for an opening.

Meanwhile, Irana, Barod, and Udynes, along with their Summoners, had surrounded the terrifying lion.

Barod and his partner played tank. Udynes and Irana were fighters, but with totally different styles.

Irana focused on offense, with a blessing known for its strange and insanely powerful attack capability. Udynes was all about speed, with a blessing that controlled wind and space.

The three of them were the top talents of their respective planets. They’d gone through countless rounds of training and had been nurtured to the max by their people. But... training under Darian was the real game-changer.

Before, they were always stronger than their peers. Even in tough situations, they had options. But when they were dropped on a planet crawling with enemies stronger than them... that’s when they learned what real fighting was.

Every attack had to be all in. There could be no mistakes, no hesitation, no thoughts except winning as fast as possible... even if it meant getting hit hard in return, or risking their life.

After countless fights under that pressure, their true potential came out. Of course, that was also thanks to their Realm of Consciousness being expanded.

Darian did that on purpose — pushed them to the brink of death. He knew it was the best way... after all, that’s exactly how it was for him.

Since becoming a Spiritual Guardian, Darian had never had peace — he walked side by side with death. Talent was just a slightly better starting point, but it meant nothing without pressure and growth.

Now... the three of them moved in perfect sync.

The lion was quickly stunned. He was sure he was stronger than any of them one-on-one — and if numbers alone made a difference, the fight would’ve been over long ago.

But when he struck with his claws... Barod and his Summoner didn’t block like normal tanks. They struck too, together with the others, each from a different angle.

They were going all-in, no holding back — 100% offense.

The lion felt real danger from the other two blessings. If he kept pushing forward, he could definitely kill the tank... but in exchange, he’d take such heavy damage he’d probably die right after.

Trading his life for one, maybe two? No way he was taking that deal.

So he pulled back his force to defend, and the three clashed hard — all of them getting pushed back. It was a stalemate. No serious injuries on either side.

Elsewhere, Lucy had already moved to the first injured wolf and healed it.

She’d taken down her own target, so now she was fighting with the rest of the army... well, "fighting" might not be the right word.

With her arrival, the beasts were basically done — totally overwhelmed and getting slaughtered. Lucy could heal and then switch to offense, wiping out any beast with ease.

Alongside Lucy, Veyle and Athven also joined the fight, throwing the enemies into full-blown panic.

The big battle, where all eight thousand had been hanging by a thread, had now completely flipped.

One of the four enemy leaders was dead. The other three were locked down and losing hard. And every few seconds, hundreds of beasts were dropping... while not a single one of the eight thousand had died since the battle began.

"FUCK!"

*BANG!*

The Risen dwarf was slammed into the light cage again, coughing up blood. He could feel total defeat creeping in, but he just couldn’t accept it.

He kept struggling, desperate... only to get smashed again and spit even more blood.

Meanwhile, Niara and Darian were facing off against Clekul, who had finally unleashed her full power.

After her Summoner took that hit and nearly died, Clekul realized she was in real danger and didn’t hold back anymore.

Niara had tried to finish them off right after the punch, but she quickly felt an instinctive danger and backed off.

When their opponent appeared again, she was surrounded by a strong grayish power. That wasn’t just the power of the ring — it was something Darian had only recently started learning to use: the blessing of the will of the heavens.

They could sense the pixie becoming more subtle — her soul was being burned to channel that maximum power. Then, with just a thought from Clekul...

**ROAR!**

Six earth serpents burst out around her at once.

Yeah — that elemental summon blessing was only supposed to let her create one creature. But... Darian had realized the blessing of the heavens’ will could break all the rules.

He didn’t know much about it, and Irana didn’t know anything either. He couldn’t waste time analyzing it mid-fight... and at the same time, Niara’s instincts told her not to go all-in recklessly.

With that, they were forced to destroy the serpents and look for a gap to win.

Niara punched and shattered a serpent with ease. But five more surrounded her, attacking from all sides.

With a flap of her wings, she dodged two strikes, got hit by another two, but still managed to destroy one more.

Her scales cracked, but she was quickly healed by Darian, then rushed toward Clekul.

In that microsecond, two more serpents had already been summoned by Clekul and were charging at her; from behind, the other four lashed out. Meanwhile, Clekul’s Summoner was holding a huge shield glowing with some strange power.

Darian was already ready for this. Right after Niara charged and was hit, she made a really quick, abrupt, and seemingly pointless move to the left.

A small opening appeared, forming a straight line toward Clekul. Right then, Darian gave a signal, and a lone dagger shot out like lightning.

Clekul’s survival instinct kicked in without thinking. The full power of the ring activated; his very existence almost vanished, but the Summoner’s shield pulsed with an apparently infinite power.

**BOOOM!**

The ground shook. Black dust rose up. Everyone was stunned by the massive impact.

Darian took a deep breath and motioned. His dagger returned to his hand.

’The power of the Heaven’s Will blessing is way too abnormal...’

Darian muttered seriously. In front of them, Clekul reappeared, with his Summoner covered in blood.

Niara still felt like getting close was dangerous. That opponent was hiding a lot. But they could deal heavy damage and wear them down from afar until they won. One or two more hits, and they’d be victorious.

But... of course that opponent would try something. So, that fight was gonna drag on longer than they wanted.

"NO!"

Suddenly, a panicked scream echoed from afar.

Darian focused and saw the lion giving its final roar before being killed. Those three had taken advantage of the enemy’s hesitation. After a few exchanges, they found an opening and hit it straight in the core, killing it.

They didn’t get hurt, so now they were gonna help finish wiping out the enemy army beside Lucy.

Lucius was also in a battle of attrition with the Risen dwarf. So, it was just a matter of time before the two remaining leaders fell.

As for the dwarf...

He felt death surrounding him and clenched his fists coldly. He couldn’t accept it, so he kept fighting to his last breath... but now, after the beast leader’s death, he knew there was no way out.

"Damn you! You think you’re gonna win?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Suddenly, the dwarf burst into crazed laughter and placed his hand on his chest.

Lucius saw that and went all in to stop him.

The dwarf was thrown against the cage, but he still had about a third of his strength left — he wouldn’t die from that.

*CRASH!*

He slammed hard against the cage.

But this time...

When he hit the ground, his body didn’t pulse or recover.

Actually, his whole skin started shriveling up. In a second, he looked skeletal. Then...

"Lord! Something’s showing up at the center of the Life World!" Athven roared toward Darian, distressed.

Darian’s eyes widened, and when he focused on the distant dwarf, he saw only his body lying inside the cage, completely lifeless.

"!"

At that exact second, the entire battlefield froze.

Everyone felt like their bodies were being crushed by some invisible force. Neither side could resist — they all dropped to the ground.

Niara struggled to stay on her feet. But Darian’s eyes looked upward... and then he saw something terrifying.

In the skies, a gigantic skeletal creature erupted. From it, an aura of corruption and dark power spread, distorting space-time around it.

The humanoid figure, over five meters tall, was a shriveled, deformed skeleton. On its skull, there were two hollow sockets, but on its forehead, a single eye was already open...

That eye radiated a supreme violet aura. Just staring at it, Darian felt his very existence get instantly crushed.

He knew right away: this was the lifeless body of the Risen Lord who died to seal that world.

That creature... had once been a demon of a powerful race. Even in death, its third eye and bloodline still held supreme power, able to bend any consciousness — living or spiritual — to its will.

The monster showed up like it knew exactly what to do. That Risen dwarf had secretly done something to sacrifice himself and send orders to that corpse... which neither Darian nor Athven even knew existed.

Sadly, Darian knew he was being reckless, maybe even foolish. Athven had been sealed in a place nearly separate from the Life World and couldn’t know everything. But Darian had no choice other than to hope his plans worked.

And as always, life wasn’t that easy.

That completely lifeless creature fixed its cold stare directly on Niara and Darian.

In an instant, both of their eyes turned violet. Their minds and souls were crushed, no resistance at all.

It was the end...

With no life in their eyes, Niara and Darian collapsed. Completely defeated.