The whole small world trembled and shifted, as if a white sun had exploded out of the void in the sky.

Darian was the center of everything, and that was the total and unrestricted release of all the white power he had built up; flooding the entire extent of that place in a single second. The miasma vanished; it wasn't purified, but pushed away, forced back by an opposing force.

**ROOOOARR!!**

The Corrupted Dragon roared in pure fury, feeling its corruption being overwhelmingly suppressed. Its throat opened, and the space-time in front of it shattered like broken glass.

The Primordial Dragon Breath was about to come, making the world throb in anticipation of imminent destruction.

Darian's eyes changed as a black light appeared.

In that same instant, it was like an absolutely black mantle wrapped around him, bursting out in the middle of the intense white light. That created a massive contrast in the skies; it was like witnessing the union of two opposites.

For the first time, he released the black power together with the white power. Before, that would've been unthinkable. But after all the experiences and self-discoveries he went through — especially when he went to Vadise — he finally had the chance to find the perfect balance between those two forces.

They harmonized, working together with an efficiency that exceeded every expectation.

Blue and green lights — Awel's and Eleri's aura — appeared and expanded around Darian, while he wielded the only dagger that now radiated Tir's yellowish aura.

Awel, Eleri, and Tir had received Darian's permission to burn every last drop of their ring power in a single absolute elemental move.

The three were weakened by the Dragon's suppression on the weapons. But the power of someone blessed by Heaven's Will was still terrifying when used by them. And now that Darian had six rings, the potential granted to the three daggers had become even greater. It was like unleashing beasts imprisoned for eras.

On the ground, Camille and the others felt the sky and earth twisting before their eyes. The level of power they were seeing already surpassed what anyone with nine rings could normally have. And Darian... had only six, which only reinforced how truly abnormal he was.

Of course, they realized Darian was going for an all-in. This wasn't a normal fight where he tried to use his power efficiently at minimal cost. Anyone there, if they burned everything they had at once, could also show a power they'd never imagine — but that would never happen in a real fight.

*Buzz!*

With a loud hum, they saw everything around Darian shift rapidly.

To his right, a sphere of soft green energy grew. It was translucent and crystal-bright, containing millions of tiny wind runes, almost invisible, dancing in a rhythm that foretold fatal danger.

To his left, a blue mist appeared and began spinning into a vortex. Composed of the highest-level water runes, it pulsed and expanded, threatening to eternally devour anything that dared to come close.

Everything happened in less than five seconds.

Then the Corrupted Dragon unleashed its attack. A cataclysmic boom tore through the silence.

As for Darian... his dagger swung forward, moving his black power and Tir's Earth power together in a single strike. At the same time, Eleri and Awel also attacked with everything they had.

Darian would use Blinding Break with Tir and his black power. His new technique worked with any type of energy; so of course it also worked with the black power. But he kept that move saved only for emergencies.

The reason was that the black power worked differently, in a way he didn't fully understand; in short, the amount needed for a single attack was absurd. Meaning he could only use it once — and after that, he would be practically out of black power.

The three attacked together, head-on, colliding with the Dragon's Breath. Space and time were torn into pieces. The world plunged into chaos.

**KBOOOM!**

While Camille and all the others stepped back, Darian's voice echoed in her mind:

'Attack together!'

Camille reacted quickly to the command, shouting and pointing forward:

"MAGES, NOW!"

Everyone there was already in position, waiting exactly for that call. They knew that the fight was at a level where they couldn't help much, but they could still be useful by attacking at the right moment.

All the mages fired their blessings at maximum speed toward the chaos ahead. They couldn't properly see the target, but that place was a long corridor of just one kilometer; it was impossible to miss something that massive in front of them.

***

Far away, in the center of the Divine Protection Universe.

Niara stood before a small point of light that shone in multiple colors, shifting tone every microsecond in a hypnotic pattern. She took a deep breath, feeling as if that thing had consciousness and was silently watching her.

Her body and soul vibrated and were numb with a nostalgic, intense feeling she couldn't explain.

When she arrived, everything was covered by a greenish energy. But once she took the first step, everything moved toward her, being absorbed, as if it was something that always belonged to her but had been separated for too long.

Then, she focused on the Immortal Chaos Essence.

"I need you to come with me." She muttered seriously, moving her hands slowly toward that small point of light.

When her white fingers touched—

'Why do you want me?'

"!"

A voice — that sounded exactly like hers — echoed in her mind, leaving her stunned. It was like she herself was asking that, but at the same time, she felt the question didn't come from her, but from that thing she touched. It was a strange and confusing sensation.

Niara exhaled sharply, "I want to save the whole universe, and I can't disappoint my partner. If you come with me, I swear Dan and I will rebuild everything that once existed here, and then make it even bigger and better. Trust the two of us."

She answered with a voice full of determination, staring directly at that point of light.

'Why do something like that? With all this power, you could just become an invincible immortal. You could live whatever life you want in a better, more incredible place.'

"Hmm... there's no such thing as a better or worse place. Wherever Dan and I are, that will be the best place in the world. Because we're the ones who carry the beauty inside us, and we shape what's around us to match it."

Niara answered without even thinking. She had seen a lot in this life. She'd seen beautiful, wonderful places where sad people lived their misery and tried to drag others down with them.

She had also seen dry places with nothing special, where pure and honest people lived in peace, happy with the little they had. It wasn't the place — it was what each person carried inside.

Of course, a naturally good and beautiful place was preferable and easier to live in. But searching for something like that was foolish; it was way better to focus on yourself and bring peace and beauty with you wherever you go. After all, you never know what tomorrow will bring.

Niara wasn't someone who reflected or thought too much... actually, she never did; but all of that had just become obvious to her.

'Do you really want to help this universe? After everything they did to you... tortured you, used you...'

"Fuck it!" Niara cut her off impatiently. "I don't like and don't want to think too much about that. Everything that was in the past is already gone."

After sighing, she added softly:

"Dan told me that 99% of people have black karma, and if he focuses on them, he'll see a life where they did unforgivable things. But even people like that aren't necessarily bad right now. Meaning, doing bad things doesn't mean they're irreparable monsters; otherwise, good people wouldn't exist in the world. It only means they messed up in the past or present, and eventually they'll pay for it and learn. They either learn or learn, sometimes it just takes longer."

"Anyway... the two of us will create together an environment in this universe where those people will have the chance to learn faster and improve. Power is just a means for me and Dan to do that. I don't care about what they did to me before, I want to save and help everyone. For that... I need you to come with me now!"

She poured out what she truly wanted and wished for. Niara was completely certain about what they could do in the future. Of course, it wouldn't be easy, but they would try — and try until they succeeded.

The voice didn't ask anything else.

***

Back in that small world. The first five minutes since Niara left had passed.

The whole environment was swallowed by chaos; spatial blades and distortions appeared everywhere, caused by the immense power of the clash.

Darian was covered in blood, but still alive, blocking the enemy, holding two daggers in his hands.

Earlier, he had burned all his black power and also the ring power. But he didn't do all that for nothing, because he knew that a lifeless creature with high intelligence reacted according to the threat level needed to kill it.

With the massive power he unleashed, the Dragon's Breath the enemy used matched it, draining a lot of the Bloodline in its body. That way, Darian lost his attack power in exchange for weakening the enemy a bit too, with the intention of dragging this fight as long as possible.

Even so, his white power was still present, suppressing the Corrupted Dragon. Whenever Darian got hurt, he could pull back a bit of that power in the environment to heal himself; but obviously, that reduced the suppression of the corruption, making the enemy stronger.

It was a razor-thin line he walked. But fortunately, Darian was primarily a healer.

Because of that, at the beginning of everything, his training focus and growth had always been on speed and survival tactics first; only after that did he improve his physical power and attack.

Of course, he had the black power to kill anything early on, so he didn't need to focus on that; only on staying alive without risks.

Right now, even though his physique was even stronger than Niara's, Darian didn't rely on that to fight, and he had the ability to face enemies using only speed and evasion until killing the target. That worked against normal people... but against something dead and full of corruption, Darian was closer to a god than an opponent.

From the very beginning, thanks to his curse, he could sense the flow of corruption/karma to predict the movements of enemies like the Risen or people with heavy negative presence. So his ability to fight this current enemy was an absurd cheat.

Up above, Camille and the others listened tensely to the violent booms of space breaking apart.

But it wasn't explosions or vast destruction like the ones caused earlier by Niara.

Sometimes, they managed to see, in the middle of the chaos, a small multicolored figure moving at high speed from side to side, while a massive serpentine dragon attacked from all directions with its body.

Everyone lost their breath seeing his calm expression, dodging perfectly, and sometimes counterattacking with his daggers... without causing any real damage.

Darian only dodged and ran, drawing attention and saving as much energy as possible. But, unfortunately, he was still covered in blood and couldn't avoid all damage.

The destruction around him in space, caused by the enemy's attacks hitting the void, created a natural trap around him. It was like moving through a short corridor whose walls were sharp blades. Darian had to jump and run in every direction, constantly cutting himself on the blades.

Remember that the power of space was known to be sharper than any common metal in the universes. Even his physique couldn't withstand being hit by that so many times.

That balanced the duel: even without being directly hit, Darian still weakened. But... he was achieving his goal of buying time.

Meanwhile, the others on the ground received messages from Darian from time to time.

Camille commanded them, so they all attacked in a direction that seemed empty. And, magically, the very next second after the attack, the enemy would appear there, being struck head-on, almost in a blind spot.

That gave Darian some offensive power, using those people at the exact right moment, without exposing them.

That Corrupted Dragon, without high intelligence, felt as if Darian was the one attacking it, and the damage wasn't that weak either, even if it didn't actually injure him. So it kept its attention on him, never ignoring him, even without managing to hit him all the time.

The battle dragged on, with Darian getting weaker by the minute.

Ten minutes passed...

Darian was breathing heavily, fully focused on the enemy.

Until...

"!"

Suddenly, the world froze.

All the chaos in the environment was abruptly suppressed.

Darian stopped moving, eyes fixed ahead. In front of him... the massive Corrupted Primordial Dragon was completely petrified, leaving him stunned.

Then, he turned around...

There, on the ground, he saw that the small portal was still active.

From inside it...

...he saw a beautiful figure stepping out. Her long blue hair swayed gently. Her skin had no scales at all, and she had no wings either. She looked like a normal human now, but she radiated a frightening glow and charm. It was like her Bloodline, which had caused those traits, was now completely under her control.

Around her, a green, pulsing aura moved like a flame.

Her eyes looked like two amber stars. She stared at Darian. Then, a warm smile bloomed on her face.

"Ten minutes! I'm back, darling!"