Darian gave everyone a day to get ready. The plan was simple: they had to go in and wipe everything out before his remaining 22 days ran out… Actually, they had to finish everything in under 15 days, because Irana would return to her universe by then.

Once they were back, they'd head straight to the member planets and take them over. The Risen Lords wouldn't realize right away that everything in that world had been destroyed, since the spatial calamity blocked any kind of information or fluctuation from leaking out.

Only after that place's two-month cycle ended would they find out. And when they did, the trap left behind on the planets would catch them off guard — because it wouldn't work the way they expected.

On that one day of prep, Amara went to the forge with her two cousins, where Haruto and his two assistants were working.

The Polar Circle Empire didn't specialize in making ordinary items — their thing was a unique kind of technology only they knew how to use. Because of that, everyone had to know how to build and fix their own gear.

Amara was a rare talent, and the emperor's daughter too — but she was never treated like she was better than anyone else. She learned to get her hands dirty just like the rest.

When the six of them gathered in the forge, they couldn't help but sigh. Their empires had always been mortal enemies, mostly because their people were so alike — both relied on the power of their own creations.

But now, the greatest geniuses of their generation had chosen to work together. All because of Darian.

"I've got an idea that could help everyone. Can you guys help me with it?" Amara asked kindly, looking at Haruto.

He nodded, and the six of them got to work building something unique, together.

They quickly realized they had more in common than they thought. Working as a team was easy — all it took was trust and focus on each one's specialty.

***

Early the next morning, Darian stepped outside and saw a huge Flying Ship nearly complete.

His eyes widened in surprise. On the hull, he saw the six Summoners hammering and fitting metal plates together. Meanwhile, the six Spiritual Guardians were chatting and working out the final touches.

Suddenly, the white cat with violet eyes turned to Darian. "Cousin! It's almost ready, just give us thirty more minutes."

Darian waved at Amara. She and Haruto had bright eyes as they worked out a few more details.

Half an hour later, it was done.

Amara explained that their joint creation could carry everyone at high speed, powered just by a bit of energy from their rings. It also had firing and defense mechanisms. It was made using inscriptions and materials bought in this universe — not a technique from her empire.

It was seriously useful. Moving around in that place using Artifacts would attract way too much attention and be risky. But this flying ship could travel more discreetly, like a beast crossing the skies.

All two hundred-plus people boarded. The inside was rough — nothing fancy or complete. After all, they'd only had a single day to build the thing. They focused only on making it able to move and fight.

Howlyn pointed out the right direction in the galaxy. Darian activated a spatial artifact to speed things up. A channel opened in front of them, and the ship entered.

They quickly reached the massive spatial calamity. There was no surveillance or traps nearby.

Ahead of them, in the distance, the channel leading to the World of Life looked like the gaping mouth of a giant beast, patiently waiting for its prey.

It was dozens of kilometers wide, radiating violent spatial fluctuations. The space around it rippled like water.

"Let's go."

Darian led the way. The flying ship dashed forward in a straight line.

*BUZZ*

Space trembled, and the scene around them changed.

They realized they were on top of a mountain. A never-ending forest stretched out past the horizon.

"This is the World of Life… such strong life energy here!" Lucy exclaimed.

"But there's also something evil in the air," Lucius added, sensing the two forces coexisting.

"!"

Darian didn't even have time to take in the scenery when a blood-red arrow struck the ship from a weird angle.

Over three hundred figures appeared on top of a nearby mountain, launching a direct attack.

Wind blades suddenly burst out in the air, slicing through those arrows like flying knives and making them explode.

A tiny Pixie with green wings had moved in to attack. It was Udynes — her blessing gave her control over the power of the winds, letting her easily manipulate the runes in the air. On corrupted, lifeless planets, she was at a disadvantage because there was nothing like that around. But inside this world, her power came back in full force.

"BASTARDS! They're Spiritual Guardians and traitor Summoners!" Niara roared, furious.

The Mannaz were using bows, and the Spiritual Guardians were launching their long-range blessings. Almost all of them had two or three rings, and three of them had four — those were the leaders.

The flying ship shot forward with unnatural speed. In a second, it appeared five meters above the mountain. All the enemies widened their eyes. Then the people jumped out to attack, enraged.

"Kill them all!"

Very quickly, corpses started piling up on the mountain. Their weapons were terrifying, and all the training they had before made the enemies look like kids.

The Summoners were obviously the main targets, so that the Spiritual Guardians could be taken down more easily.

Darian stayed on the flying ship, watching and sensing the presence of other hidden enemies nearby. Another group was approaching fast, and he stayed alert, ready for anything.

In just a few minutes, the three leaders with four rings from the first group had been defeated. These people were way too weak.

"Kill!"

Suddenly, a furious roar came from the distance. Their reinforcements had arrived and were charging up the mountain on foot.

There were two hundred of them, but the most shocking thing was that half of them had four rings.

"You guys... you're the traitors from the other academy?! Hahaha, kill them!" the leader suddenly recognized them and burst out laughing with joy.

"How dare you call us that..." Lucy and Lucius shouted. They and their partners flew straight into the middle of the enemies like lightning bolts.

Everyone was shocked by the guts of those two with just two rings.

But... in seconds, a blinding light burst from them, making everyone's souls shiver. They could feel these two young Summoners and Spiritual Guardians were a deadly threat and slashed at them without hesitation.

*BOOM!*

Their weapons shattered, and several Summoners were torn apart by the power of the black light. Lucy and Lucius could power up their partners with that energy, and together with the level-A martial art they had obtained, their combat power was unmatched.

The two of them, along with their partners, became a whirlwind of death, with bodies flying everywhere.

"So proud..." Niara murmured, her eyes glowing. Those two were fierce and ruthless.

Both the traitors and their allies were stunned. Now they realized that earlier, Lucy and Lucius had been holding back on using martial arts, probably to give themselves some pressure. But now, they were being completely serious.

When the rest of the legion finished off the first group, they joined the fight, coming down the mountain. There wasn't any difficulty at all. Lucy and Lucius had already thrown the enemy into chaos.

"Don't kill them all too fast," Darian ordered. "Lucy, this is a good chance to practice. See if you can read their memories."

He spoke as he pulled out several flying daggers, infusing them with his dark power.

*Pierce!*

Each dagger hit a target that seemed a bit stronger than the rest. Darian's dark power seeped into their bodies. Then Lucy and her partner rushed toward one of them.

After advancing a ring, Lucy's technique had gotten a lot more powerful. She already suspected that maybe, after fully taking over someone's body, she might be able to read their memories. Now it seemed possible — but to make it work, she needed practice. And this was the perfect moment.

The allied legion quickly surrounded the traitors. Any of them could've been killed in just a few exchanges, but they moved slowly so Lucy could train.

An hour later, she had tried it on almost thirty different bodies. Finally, everything was over.

"How'd it go?" Darian walked up to her and asked.

"I've still got a long way to go... but I had a bit of success. I couldn't get anything too valuable, just some fragments of recent memories. These guys are all the weakest among the traitors. Normally, they just gather intel and don't know much. From what I got, they were sent to capture anyone from Celestia Academy and watch to see if we'd show up..."

"Good job, it wasn't for nothing. Most likely, the people from Celestia Academy haven't all been captured, and these guys were hunting them down. Now that we've taken out a bunch, that'll help them survive a bit longer, and we don't need to go help them."

Darian said calmly, then climbed back onto the flying ship:

"We can't waste time. We're using an open plan. So let's move!"

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