Niara flew toward the sword, which was surrounded by a strong, pure green aura. But as she got within two meters, a sudden flash of light burst out and she felt a wave of power slam her backward.

She was thrown far away. When she looked again, she saw the sword glowing with a black light — corruption writhing through the draconic green. It had rejected her, and the level of that corruption was insanely high.

A thick miasma started pouring nonstop from the sword, covering everything around it.

"Someone got here first!" a guttural voice suddenly growled.

Darian reacted fast, activating his dark power and wrapping it around both of them. Since they'd been thrown to a corner of the hall, they were immediately hidden within the miasma.

Niara felt the ground trembling beneath her and the whole atmosphere get heavier. She looked toward an entrance on the far right side of the hall. There, she saw two dense and powerful auras. Definitely Risen Chiefs... but not the average kind, not even mid-tier.

A Risen Chief normally had the strength of a three or four-ring Spiritual Guardian. But these two were right at the top, just a step away from becoming Risen Commanders. Either one of them could take down even four-ring geniuses.

A second voice rang out, coldly: "Some soldier got lucky and arrived first. Good. It'd take just the two of us too long to hit the quota."

"SHOW YOURSELF! Or don't blame me for being brutal!" the first voice roared.

The whole hall shook with that shout — especially the ground. It was like the whole world was answering his call.

'What the hell is that power? It's not corruption...' Niara muttered in her mind, surprised.

'It's earth power, from the bloodline of a dwarf. That race descends from the Chromaraic, just like humans,' Darian replied seriously. 'Same way Howlyn held onto her race's power, that Risen Chief can too.'

Both of them were sweating. If they had to fight one peak Risen Chief, they still had confidence they could win. But two… things would get dangerously bad, fast.

But... that dwarf was beyond even the peak of Risen Chiefs.

If they had to fight, it would be a life-or-death struggle. Considering hundreds of other Risen were inside this place and could be summoned... dying wasn't that far off a possibility.

Darian forced himself to stay calm and think coldly. Meanwhile, the Risen Chief began using his full earth power to search for them.

One minute passed.

Niara stayed still, waiting for the signal. Darian suddenly looked at the sword.

'I'll hit the sword with my dark power. You've gotta use your bloodline. We've only got one shot,' he said urgently.

Right then, a wave of miasma moved toward them. The dwarf Risen had found their location and was rushing in.

*Woosh!*

Niara didn't hesitate and shot forward like a green bolt toward the sword.

A split-second later, the dwarf appeared right where she'd been — but she was already gone.

His eyes darted toward the sword, but all he saw was a flash — and then the presence disappeared.

Her speed, combined with Darian's dark power, made it so they couldn't sense or clearly see what had happened.

"What the hell... was that someone with a draconic bloodline?"

The other Risen sighed: "No one who's not a Risen can even enter the nest. You only sensed a faint, lifeless presence, right? That must've been the sword's leftover will. It's almost defeated, so in desperation, it probably lashed out to try something."

The dwarf grunted. Yeah, he didn't sense anything truly alive, so both of them had assumed it was a Risen who arrived before them.

"Whatever. Let's finish this already."

The two of them nodded and moved toward the sword, quickly activating their maximum corrupt power. A few seconds later, the dwarf Risen asked:

"How much longer until the end?"

The other one, who looked like a regular-sized Mannaz, thought for a bit before answering:

"If we're lucky, once we hit the quota, it should be enough. But that will is clearly scheming something and will fight to the bitter end. So most likely, it'll only be on the next cycle that the lucky Risen Chiefs will be able to finish the job."

...

Darian and Niara had pulled off a one-shot combo — and somehow, it actually worked to suppress the sword's barrier. Totally unexpected, because the level of corruption there was way above what Darian could usually purify... something definitely helped them.

Darian's plan was simple: grab the sword and bolt for the exit. The two enemies would be caught off guard and slow to react. That way, they might escape without a direct fight.

But the moment they broke the barrier, the two of them got teleported to another space entirely.

Niara landed in an open field and looked ahead. There was a huge puddle of blood. Actually, it looked more like a whole sea of blood.

The liquid pulsed with a few dragon bloodline runes. Even though it was a massive amount of blood... when she felt the runes within, Niara realized it was less than half of what she had in her own body — and lower quality too.

"This stuff's super contaminated. Must've come from a bunch of different Mannaz, all with different bloodline strengths," Darian muttered, checking out the surroundings too.

Niara slowly walked to the edge of the puddle. Then she saw the calm pool start to boil as she got closer. A sharp hum echoed through the whole place.

In the center of it all, a blue crystal the size of a fist rose up. It floated in the air and then... a pair of giant amber eyes opened.

"!"

Niara froze, trembling from head to toe. Those eyes were deep and piercing, wild and full of willpower. There was nothing else — just the eyes, like some kind of mirage.

"Hmmm... so it really is a missionary."

A calm female voice spoke, sending chills down Niara's spine.

Darian exhaled. "You're the will of the Divine Dragon?"

"Yeah. So... it really isn't over..."

The voice answered, and now it clearly sounded full of emotion. Its eyes trembled, then focused on Niara.

"How interesting... someone like that was actually born and ended up matching the missionary."

"What do you mean? Niara's different?" Darian asked.

The gaze turned to him. "Yeah. My plans, from the beginning, were to give a chance for someone like her to be born with my bloodline... but I can't explain the details."

"D... D-Divine Dragon... really... died?" Niara found the strength to ask, her voice shaking.

"No."

The answer came directly and very seriously, surprising both Darian and Niara.

"My body and soul were taken by him... I don't know the full story, since I'm just a will left inside this weapon before everything went down. But I can feel that my soul's still alive and sealed somewhere. Most likely... he completely took control of me. And once he heals from his wounds, he'll use me like a puppet."

Cold sweat ran down Darian's back. It was the Divine Dragon and the Enfield who fought against the Celestial Shadow and wounded it badly... If the Divine Dragon was captured, it's possible the Enfield was too.

When the Celestial Shadow returns... two Risen a tier above the Risen Lords will be under its control.

"Sorry about that. We both failed. And if you want to beat that bastard, you might have to kill us too."

Darian nodded. "Well... at least I won't be caught off guard. Now I've got a better idea of the enemy's power. Thanks for the info. I'll make sure to prepare properly and kill him one day."

His voice was steady, calm, and showed no trace of fear.

"Heh..." Suddenly, a light laugh came out, and those eyes stared at Darian. "Who would've thought you'd actually become his missionary... life really takes some wild turns..."

Darian narrowed his eyes. He felt like that was about someone else — someone he used to be. The same one who created karma with Heaven's Will and made his wife hate him.

"Since you came all the way here, I won't waste time. Just so you know, I'm burning through what little I've got left to talk right now," the voice said, turning to Niara. "Even though you're still human, you carry my blood, and I see you as a daughter. Please, don't hesitate — kill me when the time comes."

Niara clenched her fists and nodded.

"This primordial weapon was made from my claw. In the past, any Mannaz with my bloodline, if paired with someone who had nine rings, could kill a Risen Lord in one single slash. All primordial weapons were created so the Mannaz would be useful to the Spiritual Guardians — not a burden... but... even the academy that held this sword got destroyed. I have a feeling things are really bad out there."

Darian nodded. It was a thousand times worse than this will could imagine.

"Anyway... unfortunately, 95% of the primordial energy this weapon had was already stolen by the Risen. Now, the sword's split into three pieces and it'll never be fixed again. As for me, the will that guided the Mannaz... I won't last much longer. I'm still here thanks to the blood left behind by all my wielders. But as you can feel, there's almost no bloodline or power left."

Its eyes turned to Darian.

"Still... not everything's bad. The blade of the broken sword is harder and sharper than any metal that exists across the universes. After all, my real body was created directly by the universe's laws, at full power. If you use all three parts, it might still come in handy. Of course, no blacksmith can shape or adjust this thing. That's why I'll help you."

Then the gaze turned to Niara.

"And you, my daughter, I'll give you the last 5% of power I've got left. I can feel your soul's really strong..."

Niara jumped up. "Mama Boss! I heard that the bloodline of True Dragons is tied to their souls. Even if they die, their souls reincarnate and become True Dragons again, getting stronger each time. Is that true?!"

"No. That's false," the voice answered flatly.

Niara's expression sank.

"But, a Primordial Dragon does have an immortal soul. And technically, we can do that kind of thing easily. There's just... no reason to."

Niara lit up again. "Seriously!? Can Mama Boss do that for me? I dunno if you know, but Dan's my Summoner. When he goes back home, I go with him to help out."

The eyes changed, surprised. Then they focused on Niara... and sensed something different inside her soul.

"A spiritual root!?"

Niara smiled and nodded.

Right after that, the will sensed a rune that Niara kept constantly nurturing inside her soul, so she could have the max amount of energy possible when returning to Earth.

"You're using a technique that clones bloodline power?"

Niara nodded. "Yeah. Dan gave it to me so I could help out in the other universe. But... it's super weak. I can't even use 30% of my real power."

The voice murmured, "... I see. I've got just under 5% of power left. I can use it all to boost that rune in your soul. I should be able to help you keep the entire bloodline connected to your soul."

Niara's eyes sparkled with excitement.

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