CHAPTER 288: STRANGE RING

Darian picked 150 shadow souls and linked each one to one of the recruits. Now, Rhea could also change her face and move around in the world again, pretending to be one of Darian’s summoned creatures. As for the details, Rhea and Harper would take care of teaching everyone.

With everything set, Darian turned to Matteo, Eleanor, and Silas.

"You’ve been through a lot by my side and must have learned plenty. From now on, you’ll be the main group leaders in the clan and get the toughest missions."

The three of them nodded, excited. Those had been the most intense and rewarding thirty days of their lives. They’d gone through terrifyingly strict training in that universe, and now they had the skill and confidence to contribute a lot to the clan.

Darian and the twins said their goodbyes and left the clan, heading back to their house.

Once inside, Darian went straight to his room. Above his bed sat a small, square-shaped preservation artifact. Inside it, the body Niara used was perfectly healthy, waiting for her return.

He waved his hand and, in an instant, Niara entered the body and opened her eyes.

Lucy grabbed her, and the two of them ran off to have fun and relax, making the most of the moment. Darian, meanwhile, took a deep breath and sent a message through his card to Emperor Blaine.

A few minutes later, the reply came: Blaine had accepted his request and confirmed he’d invite Empress Camille to visit.

...

One day later, the house’s doorbell rang.

The twins rushed to open it and lit up when they saw Camille again.

She hugged them and gave them gifts — high-quality clothes, the specialty of her empire.

When Darian appeared, the first thing he did was tell her that everything had worked out: Niara had recovered thanks to the Heart of Nature. Then... he asked Camille to sit down.

He told her everything, hiding nothing. There was no point making up some wild story to justify what he had gained. He spoke about the World of Life — something Camille had only heard rumors about from another universe.

He calmly went through everything that had happened in there. Camille already knew Darian had taken over the Academy, but hearing the recent events directly from him left her completely speechless.

When he mentioned the World Tree, Camille’s eyes widened.

"Athven analyzed the Heart of Nature in Niara’s body and figured out its origin. In the end, he managed to make some changes to her and taught me how to improve it for everyone," Darian said, stepping closer to Camille.

He started explaining and demonstrating, using Camille herself as an example. He asked her to use her own power to make the changes. Camille followed every instruction without question, paying close attention so she wouldn’t miss a thing.

It took less than an hour. When she finished what Athven had taught, Camille activated her wood power...

...and her heart started beating like a drum. She tried to speak but could only mumble incoherently.

The density of power, the circulation, and the assimilation of the spiritual root with the wood element had reached almost perfection. It was like Camille was now half-human, half-tree.

Darian turned to the twins, and they came closer. Camille took a deep breath, understanding.

She repeated the process with them. Her control and power were flawless, and she completed everything easily — even more impressed when she saw the results.

"Good. Now you can do the same for anyone you want in your empire," Darian said with a faint smile. Seeing her face twitch, he sighed, "We’re family. No need to thank me. I did something similar for my other family, so now you can’t accuse me of picking sides."

Camille nodded, then suddenly jumped in to hug Darian tightly.

"Brat..." she murmured through tears, remembering her daughter and the pain of not having a proper explanation for her death. Now, her great-grandson was here, someone so important to her.

When she calmed down, she asked for more details about what had happened in the World of Life. Darian explained that everything had ended well, leaving out only the final events of that battle.

Camille nodded but retorted, a little annoyed:

"Wait? You took three people from your other family but no one from my empire? Are you sure that’s fair?! I know, I’ll introduce you to some pretty girls, I’m sure—"

She stopped mid-sentence when she felt the entire atmosphere change. The little dragon’s eyes were burning with rage, while Darian’s were filled with near-panic.

Camille almost burst out laughing at that. "Alright, I get it. But you also have more distant cousins in my empire..."

"On my next visit to both empires, I plan to recruit trustworthy people for the Academy. I’ll need folks with all kinds of powers, and the Academy’s going to need a lot of members," Darian said quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Great. I also want to visit that Academy when I go there," Camille replied.

Darian agreed. Before, it would’ve been reckless for someone with nine rings to go there, since the Risen Lords were probably monitoring all powerful people all the time. A move like that would’ve drawn way too much attention. But now, with the galaxy sealed, it didn’t matter anymore.

After that, Camille sent a mental message to Niara, who suddenly calmed down as if nothing had happened.

Darian was puzzled but just let it go without asking. So Camille spent the day with them. Lucius prepared a big dinner, and they all watched a few movies and talked a lot.

When it was time to leave, Camille gave Darian a spatial ring containing every type of herb that existed in her empire. It would serve as a test to see what Veyle could do with that material.

She said goodbye and left. The rest of them spent the next fifteen days relaxing. When the well-earned break ended, it was time to return to the clan.

Leander was already on the lookout for missions for the clan, and of course, Darian could accept one if it caught his interest. But for now, he could finally enjoy testing out the clan’s training facilities.

Once at the clan, Darian handed Leander all the weapons with cores — the ones he’d bought on Earth. They were made with high-quality materials, and with the cores inside, they would bring in an unbelievable amount of money.

"Use whatever you can to build training grounds above four rings. Every year, we’ll recruit new people, always moving up one ring in the scale," Darian said, and Leander nodded.

The twins and Darian first headed to the meditation area since all of them had an absurd amount of Merit Power to absorb.

Darian didn’t want to do that in the other universe — it would’ve been too risky. If they returned to Earth and people noticed that everyone had suddenly jumped more than one ring, it would raise eyebrows. Technically, that wasn’t even supposed to be possible... but Darian didn’t trust what people called "impossible." Since there was no real need at the time, waiting a few days wouldn’t hurt him.

The twins, who were already close to breaking through, quickly reached three rings. They’d only become Spiritual Guardians less than a year ago, but that kind of fast growth was still somewhat justifiable — they’d had an ancestral awakening, after all.

As for Darian... well, he was so abnormal and scary that nothing could surprise anyone anymore.

Without hesitation, he absorbed all the Merit Power.

*Crack!*

His fourth ring appeared! In less than two years, he’d already reached four rings.

The early rings come fast, and talented people from the top planets could also hit four rings in just a few years. But from here on out, the real challenge began. The Merit Power needed for each ring skyrocketed compared to the last one.

Everyone who had three rings and took part in the whole other-universe ordeal probably also reached four by now. Those who already had four probably just got a little closer to their next breakthrough.

When it was all done, Darian and the twins went to try out the training fields and artifacts.

The buildings were made to handle strong power fluctuations. Most artifacts, once activated, created a small enclosed space with a specific kind of challenge.

Some generated worlds filled with raging elements you had to endure and study. Others had powerful illusions where you could tweak power levels and abilities.

There was training for everything — the clan had turned into a paradise for anyone who wanted to practice or work on their weak spots. But...

"...being in a life-or-death fight, one step away from dying, is a thousand times more effective," Lucy muttered, sounding a little let down.

Niara, who was with them, nodded. "It’s a good place for kids to train. But in a real fight, where one mistake means death, it’s completely different."

Darian agreed. For everyone else, these places were extremely useful — nobody in their right mind would take risks like they did. For the three of them, though, this just felt like a slightly harder game. Still, if they needed to test or create something, they could do it here safely.

After making their way through all the training spots, they went back to the first meditation area. The twins went into a mental artifact to reflect inwardly on everything.

Darian, meanwhile, took a deep breath... and remembered something.

He pulled out the small black square box Irana and her mother had left for him when they came to Earth. (Chapter 252)

Before leaving that universe, Darian had asked Irana about it. She’d said she didn’t know what it was — only that the Immortal Keeper had told her to give it to him.

Back then, Darian had tried everything to open it, but nothing worked. Now that he knew it had come from an Immortal Keeper, he was curious to try again.

Holding it carefully, he started turning it around, feeling it. Then he pulled his hands in opposite directions...

"?"

Suddenly, there was the sound of something unlocking. The box opened!

Darian’s eyes went wide. He hadn’t even really tried to force it... so how did it open?!

He took a deep breath and looked inside. Then he saw something small, round, and red like blood.

"A ring?"

He examined the strange ring carefully. It gave off a feeling unlike anything he’d ever experienced. He spent a few minutes studying it without taking it out of the box. It could be dangerous.

**BUZZ!!!**

Out of nowhere, there was a vibration. It felt like a mini-earthquake, but it wasn’t coming from the ground — it was coming from space.

Darian narrowed his eyes and quickly left the building.

Looking up, he used the green power of his rings to see more clearly.

"!"

And then he saw it... in space, all around Earth...

In every direction, there were thousands of space artifacts used for transporting people. And from inside them, countless demons were spilling out.

Millions of them, all rushing out and turning toward Earth with cold, serious expressions.

"What... the hell..."

At the same time, Darian’s card started vibrating like crazy. He pulled it out and saw the screen:

*Maximum-level emergency! Everyone must gather immediately for an imminent battle!*