"Cousin, which direction should we go?" asked Amara, who was piloting the flying boat.

Darian paused to think. The World of Life was vast, and they couldn't use spatial artifacts to speed up the trip — otherwise, all the Risen in the area would sense them, and they wouldn't be able to complete the mission quickly.

According to Howlyn, the World Tree was sealed in a secret place. And beyond that...

"The traitors always make the Academy send people here every time it opens. There are barely any records of people making it back alive… but I'm sure the former leader and the High Elders, who were traitors too, hid the truth. Probably, among the people sent to die, there were traitors themselves — they get something out of this place and return alive in secret."

Darian's logic was simple. The traitor Spiritual Guardians didn't really care about this universe. All they cared about was what they could gain. So helping the Risen by tricking the Academy into sending people to die for nothing couldn't come for free. They had to be gaining something — and probably something from this world.

Darian spoke, then turned to Howlyn. She thought for a moment before replying:

"It's possible… the sprouts of the World Tree are also the best treasures to nourish a Mannaz's body, and even a Spiritual Guardian's soul. In the past, there was a method... slow and really cruel, to refine those little ones. The traitors might have some kind of deal with the Risen Lords, to come here and take a few sprouts."

Everyone swallowed hard. The sprouts were like newborn babies. But unlike humans, they were born already able to walk, fight, and obey the World Tree.

They were a sub-race created by the World Tree. When this world closed and they became isolated from their creator, that was what made them turn to dust after only ten years. If not for that, they would grow until they became independent and could live their own lives.

In other words, they had souls. They were people. The Risen used most of them cruelly, so they died quickly. The traitors, on the other hand, captured and refined them brutally, treating them like treasures...

"Keep going... People like that are like beacons," Darian said coldly. Then, he turned to the twins. "I'll focus on what's ahead. Try using your blessing to sense the sides."

The two nodded. After advancing to the second ring, their senses had developed as well. Darian could see and sense karma clearly from long distances. As for the twins, they felt more of a bad sensation — the denser the dark karma of an enemy, the easier it was to locate.

That place was huge, and Darian alone might not be lucky enough to find what they were looking for. So the twins would be a valuable help.

Amara nodded, and the flying boat shot through the air like a ray of light. They quickly left behind a mountainous region, and up ahead appeared an endless sea of trees.

"Whoa, those trees are massive!"

Niara and the others expressed their amazement. The trees ahead looked like mountains, darkening the world in front of them.

Everyone swallowed hard. Besides being gigantic, those trees were a bit eerie. Even Irana, who came from planet number 22 in power in their universe, had never seen trees like those. They gave off the same kind of feeling as Demon Beasts baring their teeth.

"We were only in the outer region before. Now we've entered the inner part of the World of Life," Howlyn explained quickly.

These trees were so tall that the flying boat couldn't fly over them. If they climbed too high, the airflow at that altitude would cause intense resistance and greatly reduce their speed. They could force it using more power from the ring, but that would draw too much attention, creating noticeable fluctuations from far away.

According to Howlyn, those trees had been corrupted and were similar to the Risen. But trees had a different life cycle from other races. They were born and grew without intelligence or the ability to move — like they were sleeping.

Only after many years, if they were from a powerful race or got lucky, would their souls awaken, and then they'd start interacting with the world like any regular person.

Those trees were that kind. After a few hundred years, some of them would awaken. Since their bodies were already corrupted, they'd be born as Risen. But for now, these ones ahead didn't pose any danger.

The flying boat kept advancing at high speed.

They could only move through that shadowy forest, among those colossal trees. The darkness ahead was endless. The little light that made it there was completely blocked by the leaves. It was a world of shadows and deadly silence.

"!"

Suddenly, Darian sensed something, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Speed up. Head in that direction."

Amara gradually picked up speed until reaching the maximum they could manage without causing too much disturbance.

Everyone's hearts tightened, until a more open area between the trees appeared. This wider stretch finally allowed a bit of light to come through.

Then, a little further ahead — still quite far — they spotted, on the ground, a group of over a hundred people doing something suspicious.

Amara slowed down to avoid being noticed.

A few seconds after spotting them, they were already close overhead and still hadn't been noticed.

"They're Spiritual Guardians and Summoners..."

The flying ship naturally gave off some fluctuations as it moved. But if the people below didn't look up, it could easily be mistaken for a flying beast silently passing by.

There were beasts in that area, and the Academy envoys were probably too cautious to let anything get close without reacting.

If those people didn't even bother to look up, it meant they knew they weren't in any danger — and that any beast around would be an ally.

"Attack and kill them all."

Suddenly, Darian's cold order echoed out.

Amara turned to him, took a deep breath, and nodded without wasting a word.

There was zero chance of accidentally killing innocent people. Darian was sure — from the karma he felt and how unconcerned they were, they were all traitors.

Many runes on the flying ship's hull lit up. These were inscriptions bought in that universe, connected to the ship through Amara's Empire techniques.

Then, on the sides of the ship, a dozen black metal spears over four meters long emerged. Those were Haruto's creations, made using his Empire's abilities.

The combined power of both Empires was unleashed at full strength.

*BUZZ!*

The spears exploded and shot violently toward the ground.

Suddenly, the people below looked up, startled. They weren't expecting an attack.

**BOOM!**

Caught off guard, they didn't even have time to react. The ground cracked apart, and they shouldn't have had any chance of surviving...

Although the explosion also hit the giant trees, they didn't respond, and Darian didn't feel any fluctuation coming from them.

After a few seconds, the dust started to settle... and the flying ship got closer to the ground...

"!"

Everyone saw a green light appear in the center.

A single male Mannaz stood there — scaly, wearing black armor. All around him was destruction — they really had killed all the others, but he remained completely unharmed, not a scratch on him.

A black serpent wrapped around his neck uncoiled. That was his Spiritual Guardian. Everyone could feel its four rings... but it was like heaven and earth compared to any they'd faced before.

That Spiritual Guardian was top-tier elite. When its eyes locked onto the flying ship, a massive pressure fell over everyone.

"Who dares to attack me?!" the Spiritual Guardian shouted, full of rage and hatred.

Darian gave a faint smile. That guy was exactly the one he wanted to find. Too bad for that idiot — fate had brought him into his path so soon.

Everyone looked to Darian, waiting for his order to attack.

This would be an incredibly hard battle — those two were on a level even above a Risen Chief.

But he said nothing. Then Niara smiled and moved, jumping off the ship.

The two didn't move as she landed less than ten meters away.

They stared coldly at the Dragoness, then noticed the small dragon wrapped around her... and felt something terrifying coming from it.

The Spiritual Guardian opened his mouth. "You..."

He paused when he saw Niara crack her fists together. A yellowish flame flowed through her hands. Her fierce gaze made both the Mannaz and the Spiritual Guardian feel a shocking pressure.

The Spiritual Guardian snorted, then spoke bluntly. "I'm Ryafe, from planet Harrier. I don't know if you're stupid or just arrogant to dare attack me."

Suddenly, a voice sounded in Darian's mind.

'Planet Harrier... it's ranked number 7 in our universe!' It was Irana warning him, her voice clearly shaken. 'That planet is home to one of the Spiritual Sovereigns!'

Darian sighed. Meanwhile, Niara's aura started rising. Her clothes and hair began to float.

"Who gives a damn who you are? Even if you begged for your life, you don't even deserve a quick death."

Darian spat the words coldly. He had no time to waste. Niara wasn't even at 30% of her usual power — but neither of them felt any fear. They both wanted to push their limits and fully trusted in each other's strength.

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