Darian imdiately regrouped with the second army on that world. Of the 150k who started, only 50k Spiritual Guardians had survived. There were still 70k Mannaz who'd lost their partners and made it out. In total, thirty thousand pairs died over just a little more than three months.
Darian knew the place's details. It was called Trunk World and, unlike the Root World — which was shaped like a huge bridge — this one was a massive circle.
In the center stood the shadow of a tree, the goal of everyone. Trunk World was split into six rings, three called the ring of life and three of death; they alternated around the place.
They were equivalent to the lower-level lines, separating enemies from safe zones; but unlike before, these rings here were fixed and didn't rotate.
Every three days, for a full day, those in a death circle could invade the life circle, forcing everyone to fight. That was a good ti to launch counter-invasions too... but now everything had changed completely.
Lucy explained seriously that the White-Bloods of that world had built realms and fortresses in the death rings, blocking passage.
From what Darian knew, that shouldn't have been possible. The Array limited their power and their ability to alter the environnt like that. But...
"Bro, I investigated as much as I could, and we even tried escape tactics in case we got trapped. But they seed to be waiting for us a long ti. We found thousands with eight circles — which shouldn't exist. Leading them were those with nine circles," Lucy said, clenching her fists hard.
"That wasn't a big problem. and the other strong ones managed to hold back those with nine circles using everything we had. Their power is a bit below that of the Spiritual Guardians with nine rings."
Darian nodded. In the fight he'd had alongside Niara, they'd faced soone with nine circles. That figure, without outside help, could maybe spar with a nine-circle Spiritual Guardian — but never win, even if it was one of the weaker Earth-type nine-circlers.
"When we were ambushed, the others retreated and killed the eight-circle enemies. Then... from behind, a bunch of White-Bloods appeared without circles. They gave off a violet aura and terrifying power. They could straight-up kill Earth Emperors and even beat top-level nine-circle people from our universe. And worst of all... their main weapon was ntal power. We couldn't coordinate, much less escape..."
Lucy's words left Darian and Niara with twisted expressions.
No circles? That ant they were figures who'd evolved... and that ntal power could only co from the Divine Fla Of The Mind. Trunk World naturally hosted stronger mbers of that race with better resources and opportunities, so it was inevitable beings above nine circles would appear there.
Unfortunately, the ntal power they'd gained was infamous for wrecking an enemy's strength. Against equals, it's problematic; against an army of weaker people, it was straight-up catastrophic.
"... the humans Cyaos brought to our academy, from several planets across our universe... they launched an unexpected suicide attack. That's how we managed to pull back. And every three days, for so reason, those without circles didn't attack us again — only the others with up to nine. That's what's allowed us to survive so far."
Niara stepped close and gently supported Lucy. The small woman radiated deep pain and huge guilt.
This wasn't the first ti she felt like a failure; with the Clan back on Earth, many had died, and she hadn't been able to save them. Now, as the leader of that army, she felt worthless, and the consequences of that failure had been brutal.
Sadly, there wasn't much she could have done. ntal power was extrely complex — if any other Fla had been present there, the chances this would happen would have been much lower.
Lucy just shook her head, unable to et Darian's eyes. Lucius was no longer with them; no one knew what his future held now that her partner was dead. She only had Darian, and in the past, she'd promised not to beco a burden to him. Now her confidence had taken a devastating hit.
Darian inhaled deeply. Then he reached up, gently cupped her chin, and forced Lucy to look into his eyes.
"Silly girl, even if you prepare as much as possible, you can't predict everything. I learned that the hard way... you know that, and you've heard about my defeats. I'm not perfect, and I don't expect anyone to be. You know and rember what I was like before. Look at now — even that cowardly brother of yours is moving on and learning from his mistakes."
He murmured, staring into her trembling eyes. If she'd been in her real body, she'd be in tears.
"I know you too. My little sister isn't a weak woman who crumbles so easily. The three of us have always taken heavy hits from life, but we always have each other to lean on. I'm here now, and in the future, I promise Lucius will be with us too."
Lucy breathed deeply and nodded... then threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. Darian exhaled softly and stroked her head.
"We'll get revenge. And it'll co faster than you think."
Darian murmured, and she lifted her head to et his eyes.
"I have a plan. So things happened to before — I'll tell you everything. After that, you and I will work together."
***
It was the start of Darian's second day in Trunk World. But it was also the third day of peace in the ring of life. Right then, the whole environnt started to tremble as a scarlet aura spread over everything.
That was the signal marking the start of the invasion.
The White-Bloods of the Blood Race could now invade and hunt their prey freely. A massive army of over a hundred thousand of them — all between seven and nine circles — advanced like a tide in one single direction.
They could clearly sense where their enemies were; that was a natural trait of the White-Bloods. So, running was pointless. If those without circles really wanted to wipe everyone out, they'd have done it long ago. The fact that Lucy and so many others were still alive was a real miracle.
As they approached the enemy army, everyone saw a Dragoness floating high above, her wings beating softly while she stared down coldly.
Below her, an army of three hundred thousand Spiritual Guardians and their partners stood in formation. With them were seventy thousand lone Mannaz, all radiating hatred and a limitless will to kill.
Niara clenched her fists. In that instant, the world lost its colors.
*Divine Dragon Possession.*
Everyone thought they heard a draconic roar echoing through the skies. A serpentine shadow coiled around her as her body pulsed with light. The space around her cracked like a spiderweb.
"KILL!"
Niara roared and charged straight toward the enemy army. At the sa ti, her entire army below moved in perfect sync.
---
While Niara led the assault, two figures slipped quietly through the battlefield, infiltrating deep into enemy territory.
The White-Bloods could sense any enemy presence — that's why they believed it was impossible for anyone to sneak past them. Even if soone managed to, they'd be instantly tracked down and hunted on the other side. But... no one noticed those two.
A tiny pixie about ten centiters tall, with yellowish wings, floated while sitting on the back of a small, almost ethereal, multicolored dragon.
Any enemy farther than five hundred ters away couldn't sense them at all. After all, Darian was using the disguise of chaos.
Darian wasn't naive. The Black-Bloods had far weaker senses and overall power compared to the White-Bloods, so he knew he couldn't use the sa trick as before to sneak into their ranks. That's why he went for a different tactic.
'Master, to the west, ten kiloters from here. A mber of that race is hiding in a cave with an inscription inside. He's ditating and seems important. Outside, there's another one guarding him. Nothing else nearby.'
Awel sent the ssage ntally. Darian smiled and turned west.
He could feel both presences through karma, but he couldn't detect the inscription — not unless he got much closer. Besides, there could be other hidden things there that weren't living beings. So, he wouldn't risk advancing without observing the area for a long while first.
Now, though, Awel had beco his new and valuable cheat — and he intended to make full use of it.
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