"Bastard." At the center of it all, Darian spat coldly.
At the very last instant, he felt the laws of the universe shift. His strike hit nothing, colliding only with the barrier of that cetery.
Before, the Celestial Shadow could use the laws of the universe to move things into that world, but nothing physical could cross the seal.
Now that it had completely lost its body, it could also do the opposite, moving out using only its soul. It was like a teleport that used the laws of the universe, a cheat that Primordial Beasts were capable of using.
Of course, to do that, it had to consu a huge amount of the only thing it had left: its soul. It couldn't do this many tis, but in its current situation, it was either die or run.
Even so, it was like a fish inside an aquarium, trying to hide from a predator.
Being just a dying soul, it wouldn't be able to hide for long. Its fluctuations were far too obvious, and it wouldn't be given ti to recover.
In this battle, Darian didn't even have ti to use his maximum power. It wouldn't have made a difference anyway, because he knew the Celestial Shadow would sense the danger and sacrifice its body to save itself, just like it had done monts ago. With his current power, Darian wouldn't be able to kill it in one go.
If he used the power of Origin and still didn't win, he would be taken out of the fight, which could beco a problem. Blinding Break was already destructive enough, and he could use it up to four tis; that was the safest choice in this situation.
**BUZZ**
The entire cetery buzzed. That small world would collapse in on itself within minutes.
"Dan!" Niara and Alear appeared behind him, both with furious expressions.
Darian snorted as he turned to them. "It's fine. He can't escape this universe, and now he's lost everything. It's just a matter of ti until we catch him; next ti will be the last."
This was the third direct encounter with the Celestial Shadow, and also the third ti it had escaped.
Normally, whenever Darian fought, he managed to eliminate his enemies directly. But against an enemy of this magnitude, things weren't that simple. It was absurdly tough and full of tricks that couldn't be dealt with without overwhelmingly high power. Unfortunately, Darian hadn't had ti to get strong enough to defeat it head-on.
"The sacred weapons?" Alear asked quickly.
Darian shook his head. "There's nothing here."
When he had blown up the Celestial Shadow's mark at the beginning, Darian thought he would find the enemy together with the weapons, using them to recover. But he found nothing. He was certain they weren't there.
If the Celestial Shadow had used its control, those weapons could have generated so primordial power in their cores, which would have been extrely useful for recovering faster.
Besides, in the middle of that desperate battle, if the Celestial Shadow had possessed those weapons, it definitely would have used them. Since it didn't, that ant they were no longer under its control.
It was very possible they weren't even in that universe. If there were Spiritual Guardians capable of bringing things into that universe, then there should also be a way to take things out of it.
That enemy had received many things from the Spiritual Sovereigns. There was no way it hadn't been forced to hand sothing of its own over to those three greedy figures. Darian was almost certain where to find those weapons.
"Let's go," Darian said quickly, turning around and shooting forward.
The three of them reached the massive army waiting for them, their faces pale and frightened. Darian waved his hand, opening the seal; in the next instant, a spatial channel appeared behind them. Everyone rushed through.
Outside.
"Bro!" Lucy's voice echoed when she saw everyone appear.
Darian turned to her, noticing her tense expression. The twins could feel the terrifying karma of the enemy, so they knew well that it had escaped. But…
Darian's eyes widened, confused.
That enemy hadn't hidden itself as expected.
His senses caught a mass of black karma in one direction. He raised his gaze to the skies…
There, he saw a small, distant, shining point amid the near-total darkness. It looked like a star, but in truth, it was a very distant galaxy.
"This…" Darian narrowed his eyes.
That was the brightest galaxy in the skies, and it could only be the galaxy where the Celestia Academy was located.
Darian squinted. Then, he waved his hand and took out a flying boat.
Without waiting even a second, he jumped to Niara and Alear's side, and then they hurried off.
Unfortunately, the distance was far too great, and even burning through a lot of resources, the flying boat had a speed limit.
Niara could open a channel to her universe, but since she wasn't an immortal and couldn't properly control Immortal Chaos Essence, she could only create a completely random channel inside it. In other words, she couldn't help with that.
---
It took almost four hours for them to arrive.
Before their eyes...
...the grand primordial inscription was fully activated. However, its fluctuations were completely different from normal.
"Celestial Corruption!" Niara roared furiously.
The new leadership of the Celestia Academy was made up of traitors, but they weren't insane enough to try to contaminate the academy like before, or Darian would without a doubt attack and destroy everything.
But now, everything had changed.
The defensive inscription was fully active and radiating corruption. The Celestial Shadow had fled to that galaxy and, with the help of the traitors, invaded it, completely taking over its core and altering its purpose.
Why would it do that? That barrier was nothing in front of Darian. He had countless thods to break it and invade. The Celestial Shadow wasn't stupid enough to think that the inscription would stop him.
*Buzz*
Suddenly, the barrier in front of them rippled softly. Then, a figure erged, coming toward them.
It was a Mannaz woman. She looked very young and was trembling from head to toe, in complete despair. Clearly, she had been forced to co out.
Niara waved her hand, moving her power to quickly pull her to the flying boat.
"Please! Spare !"
As soon as she arrived, the woman dropped to her knees, terrified, her face covered in tears.
Niara took a deep breath, suppressing all of her fury. Alear stepped forward and supported the young woman.
"Why did you co?"
The woman raised her head, turning to Darian.
"T-they... they told to give you a ssage."
Darian nodded. Obviously, she was referring to the people from the Academy.
"They said they won't kill anyone in the galaxy. But now, he's in control of everything, and all living things have been connected to the inscription. The mont the barrier is attacked, anything with even the slightest bit of life will be imdiately absorbed." The woman spoke quickly, then lowered her head, fearing for her life.
"Son of a bitch... he's using people as leverage," Niara growled, releasing intense killing intent.
Darian snorted. Most people would attack without hesitation. After all, it would be the sacrifice of countless lifeforms in a galaxy to end the evil once and for all in the universe. But...
"Attacking now solves nothing. He'll wipe out all life to get energy, then run away." Darian muttered.
"But... he definitely has a plan. We can't let him stay free in there!" Niara exclaid, her expression filled with pain. She didn't want to be responsible for the death of everyone in that galaxy, but it seed inevitable.
After fleeing, the Celestial Shadow wouldn't have anywhere it could hide for long. It wouldn't be able to recover even a little, and with each teleport using the laws, it would consu more and more of its little remaining energy. Soon, it would be cornered.
Darian turned to Niara, watching her twisted expression. Her eyes trembled with sadness, but she clenched her fists, searching for determination. She would make sure those people's deaths wouldn't be in vain and would turn that universe into a splendid place, so that when everyone reincarnated, they would be satisfied.
Darian sighed. "No one can force my wife to do sothing she doesn't want. I won't let you suffer by dirtying your hands like that."
Her eyes widened. "But..."
"It's fine. I'll handle everything without having to kill innocents. Or... have you gone back to not trusting like before?" Darian said slowly, offering her a faint smile.
Niara swallowed hard, rembering the past. At the very beginning, when Darian was still just a small slug, he told her many tis to trust him. Obviously, she couldn't do that so blindly. Thankfully, that phase didn't last long, because they understood each other and connected deeply very quickly.
She looked him in the eyes, then nodded lightly, and a beautiful smile blood on her face.
"I trust you." she replied, full of confidence.
Darian nodded, and the two exchanged a aningful look.
Alear sighed softly, feeling the exchange filled with emotion between them, her thoughts drifting far away.
Darian turned back to the barrier ahead.
"Actually... he chose the worst possible path. If he had run far away, it would have taken a few years to find him in the universe. It would be a long hunt. Possibly, we'd have to chase him for decades or more until everything ended. But now, he practically chose where his grave will be."
At that mont, countless flying boats appeared behind them. The entire army had arrived, with the twins shooting straight toward Darian.
Darian turned to the two of them.
The twins held their breath; they knew that look very well. It was their older brother's excited look. They had seen it a few tis before, always when he was about to do sothing he found very interesting.
And what was interesting to him...
...was certainly sothing unthinkable for anyone else.
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