Author's note:
Hello, guys! I'm to tell that this book will be rewritten. After a month or so, turns out that it became quite unpopular, and I brought this issue to you in our discord. Through friends, discord, and private messages also from Discord, it was pointed out the various downsides of the book.
First one: It's too damn complicated! Yes, this was by far the most mentioned problem. The interactions between Laws, Blessings, White Power, Dark Power, the Summoner, its bloodlines, etc. When they were put all together, it simply became too hard to follow. Re-reading it myself, I had to admit that even I, the author, got a little lost, and I wrote the damn thing. Hahaha!
Second One: Another point was the escalation of power gain and range of action. In just a few chapters, the characters are already making changes that are directly impacting the entire future of the summoners, and they didn't even have a single ring yet. Some people didn't mind, but the majority thought it was too fast and too soon, and it also contributed to the complication of the story.
I won't take more of your time here, but know that the book hasn't been given up. I'm going to rewrite it, or, at the very least, make something better for you all, taking all these opinions into consideration. So, enjoy this last chapter below, as it will take some time for this book to return. I'll probably delete the chapters at some point too since it will be much better to simply start a new book to make use of the advantages that new webnovels receive.
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The two of them immediately froze. They took a deep breath, sweating cold, stunned.
Darian's senses were, in some ways, similar to what a Risen Lord had. Of course, he was on a whole different level — he could even feel karma's movements before they happened.
But the moment he and Niara started sensing everything around them, it was like some extremely powerful being instinctively realized it was being watched. Kind of like how regular humans feel when someone's staring at them — they just *know* something's off.
For that being, maybe it was just a vague feeling. Who knew if it was real or not. But Darian and Niara were sure they'd been noticed — and they knew exactly what that figure was. That karma, that power… there was no doubt.
'Shit, what a stroke of bad luck… maybe we really *should* head to another galaxy,' Darian muttered mentally.
'I think we should stay,' Niara replied with conviction. 'The rumors said all the Risen Lords were injured. If someone's that vulnerable, they'll want to hide somewhere safe to recover faster.'
Darian took a deep breath. 'The closer we get, the more likely it is that this thing will fully notice us and strike. Even injured, I think he could kill us with a single thought… assuming he can reach us.' He understood what she was aiming for.
'Yeah. Trust me. I can use everything and run. We've had enough practice, and we're in sync,' Niara said, full of confidence.
The plan was actually doable because they had those artifacts — and Darian had a ridiculous amount of stored black power. If he transferred 100% to Niara, she could buy them two or three seconds to escape. That'd be enough time to activate the artifact and disappear. The enemy wouldn't be able to catch them in time.
'Alright. Maybe, if the Risen Lord really is hurt, we can get close enough to find something valuable,' Darian said.
They were excited — and extremely tense. One slip-up and they'd be dead instantly.
Niara blasted across the land at full speed. They both focused completely on their surroundings.
With her using the black power's senses, Darian could focus entirely on watching the direction the enemy was in, ready for the slightest movement. Niara, meanwhile, kept her attention on the regular Risen, avoiding them entirely.
On his own, he could only handle one of those tasks accurately. But now, with her backup, it was all way smoother.
Trying to fight any of the planet's Risen would be like ringing a bell for the Risen Lord. Everyone on that planet had probably been created by him and shared a direct connection to his presence.
They moved fast. The planet had no vegetation, barely any terrain variation, and was about the size of Earth's moon. At Niara's speed, they could cross it in just a few hours.
Twelve hours passed, and nothing had gone wrong.
They stopped at the edge of a massive pit — there used to be an ocean there, but now there wasn't a drop of water. They couldn't see the other side, or the bottom. Everything was covered in an incredibly thick black miasma, like tar.
The Risen Lord was at the bottom… just a few kilometers away.
Niara felt something shift. Deep inside her soul, something that had been dormant all along suddenly started to wake up.
'Partner, that abyssal heart you gave me before… it's reacting. This place seems to have something extremely beneficial for a Risen Lord's power.'
Darian heard her, surprised. When he'd defeated that Risen Lord in the nest, he'd purified the abyssal heart by cutting its connection, then gave it to Niara and told her to run. (Chapter 24)
Since then, she hadn't felt anything different inside. But now that Darian was back and starting to channel black power into her again, everything was becoming clearer.
When she absorbed his black power back in the nest, she lost control completely and could only attack wildly. Now, she had refined, easy control. It was definitely thanks to that — now she could even use the karma senses perfectly.
She couldn't confirm if it was all due to the abyssal heart. But she'd never had contact with that kind of power before… so how could she use it this naturally?
It was only now that Niara clearly felt the abyssal heart reacting. It had been hidden in her soul, just like the laws hide in the soul of a beginner Spiritual Guardian.
Darian took a deep breath. That thing down there was a massive treasure… and he, a tiny little ant, wanted to steal its sugar?
'Let's go,' he said, already prepping the artifact to trigger it instantly if needed.
Niara nodded, then started sneaking along the pit's walls, carefully descending into the thick miasma.
The deeper they went, the stronger the reaction from the abyssal heart in her soul.
They stepped onto solid ground. Fully focused, she moved forward, step by step.
"!"
Until something changed. Right then, Niara felt something off and froze, stopping in her tracks.
Darian felt everything she felt, crystal clear. He hadn't noticed anything before it happened either.
'Did something... go inside you?' Darian asked, surprised.
Something completely outside their senses had snuck up and slipped into her without a trace.
They both broke into a cold sweat — how the hell hadn't they sensed that?
Darian let out a breath, and then the little slug moved through her clothes. It slid out from the soft and comfy area, slowly making its way down beneath the fabric. Niara didn't react, just felt something cold slithering lower.
He reached her belly button and paused for a second... then, with a determined push, it slid down a little more, stopping in that spot between her navel and another area Darian preferred not to think too much about.
That was where the Dantian was — a point often mentioned in fantasy stories as the core where power forms in living beings. Darian knew this concept through that book he read so much. It was where soul energy tended to gather more easily, making this kind of phenomenon smoother — and that was exactly where the abyssal heart in Niara's soul had settled.
Since the soul was in sync with the body, even though the abyssal heart was lodged in her soul, its corresponding position in her physical body made it way easier for Darian to feel the subtle changes happening in her.
Trying to ignore how weird this was getting, Darian focused on the subtle flow inside the Dantian of her soul.
It was a tiny change...
But yeah, something had really entered there...
Minutes later, he nearly jumped in surprise.
'This is... it's like the opposite… a tiny remnant of a power that's the opposite of the Risen's.'
Darian was sure of it — he also had that opposite power: the white power. It was like Yin and Yang — opposites, but part of the same whole. Two sides of the same coin — you can only ever see one side at a time, never both.
It was a tiny trace of that power, which seemed to have been drawn to Niara and slipped into her automatically.
This whole time on the planet, Darian had been totally focused on sensing with black power. He hadn't even tried to use the white power's senses, because it just didn't make sense in a place like this.
Honestly, he had never even tried using the white karma senses. His master had already told him the obvious: if he could sense Risen karma and all that, then the opposite had to be true too.
But to him, it was like that side simply didn't exist. Being in a place where white karma naturally existed in abundance felt impossible — so he just ignored it.
Now, Darian took a deep breath and focused on using the white mark on his soul, along with his abilities.
It didn't even take a second for him to notice something really off up ahead... but he couldn't quite understand what it was right away.
At the same time...
Niara's eyes widened.
Two glowing red eyes opened — far away from them — but she could see them clearly.
They were staring straight in her direction.
"You think... you're hidden?"
A sharp, furious voice echoed.
"I've been waiting for you."