Niara nodded and pulled out the emblem that marked where the attacks were happening. Then she turned to Darian and confirmed: there were no attacks going on at the moment.
They had shut down all invasion attempts on the galaxy in just a few days. Whenever they showed up in an area, the massacre started fast — but just to be safe, they made sure no Mannaz saw them.
Still, none of the locals were stupid. They'd seen light and shadow obliterating enemies — even the Risen Leader had been taken down effortlessly. They understood someone was helping them... someone who didn't want to be seen.
And to have that kind of power, it had to be a Summoner and their partner. There was no way they could be in that place, so they must've helped from the shadows.
For people who already thought they were doomed, that felt like a gift from the heavens. They didn't risk anything to thank them. They just left that planet — where 90% of the enemies had been — and moved on to others that were way less dangerous.
Because of that, Darian and his group managed to act without leaving too much evidence behind. And even if someone had seen Niara, she looked physically very different, thanks to the black transformation.
As a result, they'd saved more lives than they could even count. And when the Spiritual Guardians launched their attack on another galaxy, the Risen stopped trying to invade this one and moved toward the new front.
"There's a really good chance there won't be any more attacks for a while. And if any show up, they'll be super weak, disposable Risen," Darian added, picking up on the intense emotions coming from Niara.
It was obvious now: her life goal was to save people — and her universe. Sure, all the Mannaz wanted that too, but she had this borderline suicidal determination to make it happen.
Darian needed to save this place too. He'd do it if he could — even without knowing the full truth about Meru. In the end, their goals lined up and... well, she was just as insane as he was, which either made things easier... or way worse. Time would tell.
He grabbed the spatial ring and checked inside. After killing several Risen Leaders, he'd found two more spatial pearls. That brought his total to three of those artifacts.
Rhea was sure: each one was connected to a different galaxy. And to make things more fun, there was no way to tell where they went without using them. Once activated, the artifacts naturally gathered energy again and could be reused after a few days.
Ideally, they'd end up in the galaxy where the Spiritual Guardians were currently attacking. But... what were the odds of hitting the mark?
If they landed somewhere far off, they could just use the other two artifacts one after the other. But if none of them led to the right place... how the hell would they safely return to the current galaxy?
"Well... the Risen Lords are wounded. If we don't get unlucky, we can move around safely. There are six divine academies scattered around... maybe we'll get lucky and land in a galaxy with one of them. Or... we'll find a way to travel between galaxies..."
Darian muttered aloud, clearly worried. Rhea stayed quiet... was he finally realizing just how insane this plan was?
"Yeah, thinking too much about it is just a pain..." Niara said, not really caring, eyes on her partner.
Darian looked up and met her gaze. Then he nodded. "True... fuck it. Let's just see where this goes."
They understood each other. Meanwhile, Rhea let out a heavy sigh. If they couldn't really plan this out, those two were just gonna jump into the unknown...
"Lucius and Lucy should be sent to the defensive lines as their first test. Things are way less dangerous now," Darian commented.
Since they were still weak, there was no way they'd be sent into that major battle. This kind of mission was the obvious move. "I just hope the others survive the fight..."
Leander and the rest were definitely going to fight. But all Darian could do was hope for the best and handle his part.
"Alright, let's just get this over with." Darian randomly grabbed one of the three artifacts.
Rhea and Ametheos turned into marks and returned to Darian.
They were part of his soul, and when they were inside, it was like they were resting — sleeping, kind of. But he could summon them any time.
Niara took a deep breath, reached for her chest, and grabbed the artifact Darian had handed her. She didn't hesitate and activated it. Instantly, space around them twisted, creating a connection to some distant place...
Within seconds, she was pulled into the channel.
She took a deep breath, then felt her partner again, right beside her. She shot him a look full of determination, then jumped straight into the channel.
The channel was insanely stable — and incredibly fast. Darian didn't even have time to get anxious — three seconds later, everything was gone.
They felt the miasma surrounding them from all directions. The black karma of countless Risen could be sensed too.
The miasma wasn't too dense. They looked up — above them stretched almost total emptiness, a dark sky that seemed like it had never known light.
At first, they saw nothing. No stars, no light source, and no warmth from any distant sun.
After a few seconds scanning the darkness, their eyes caught a single point of light — small, unmoving, almost invisible. Way too far to bring warmth, way too weak to light anything up, but... it was a reminder that somewhere out there, life was still burning.
The inner universe — and pretty much all its galaxies — had already been taken over by the Risen. Once they took over a galaxy, all its stars and all forms of life were completely absorbed by the enemy.
In other words, that tiny speck of light they were seeing was the only galaxy where life was still fighting to survive — and the one they'd just left seconds ago.
From the distance they were seeing it, it was like standing on Earth and looking out at the Andromeda galaxy — the one closest to the Milky Way.
'Partner, we're definitely in a nearby galaxy,' Niara confirmed what Darian had already guessed. 'But... if we were in the galaxy where the Divine Dragon Academy is, we'd definitely be able to feel some trace of the battle going on.'
Darian sighed. They were lucky not to have ended up somewhere ridiculously far away, but it still wasn't where they needed to be.
According to the notes Niara had read about that artifact, after being used, it would take at least thirty days to recharge.
Darian still had the other two artifacts left. But... what if those ended up sending them even further away? The chances were huge — after all, one universe was so massive and full of galaxies it was hard to even wrap your head around it.
The Divine Protection Universe was nothing like Earth's universe. There were artifacts, powerful laws, and all kinds of natural powers. Stuff that allowed galaxy-hopping wasn't unheard of.
Of course, not just anyone could use that kind of thing. That's why there were inscriptions, artifacts, and rare techniques that let people move like that safely.
It was super dangerous to use them, though, since spatial laws could literally tear people apart mid-travel. But Niara was a freak of nature — she was confident her body could handle that kind of thing.
The place they'd landed in was the center of this galaxy. And the center of a galaxy was where the biggest source of power usually gathered.
If anything valuable existed here, it'd be on this planet or close by. Honestly, finding some kind of spatial mineral to jump to another planet shouldn't be that hard.
So yeah — since they were relatively close, staying here and looking around for something useful was the much smarter move. They might even find a way to reach that battle.
Using the other two artifacts right now would've been just straight-up insane... as insane as the move they had just pulled. Even madness had its limits.
Niara could feel what Darian was planning, so she nodded and focused.
He quickly channeled a huge amount of black power into her bloodline. Right away, Niara's black scales started pulsing with power, absorbing everything.
This way, they could move without being detected as invaders.
Once they were ready, the two of them focused on sensing their surroundings. Since everything had been taken over by the Risen, the miasma was covering literally everything, and black karma could be felt all around.
With a bit of focus, they could get a pretty full read on the planet... until—
"!"
Niara's eyes went wide.
'Fuck!'
Darian cursed, stunned.
The moment they started searching, they felt something had noticed them. And judging by past experience...
'There's a Risen Lord on this planet!'