Darian took calm steps, approaching the central entrance of the temple. There was a strange pattern in the temples he had visited: they always had three doors side by side, but only the central one was the true entrance.
That was a representation of their father. The opposite sides symbolized the dark duality that existed within him. The center was the point of balance he had to reach to get where he did.
So, he left that message for others to understand—to always seek the middle path. They should never live focused on one extreme while ignoring the other side.
Darian slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. There was a single small hall; at the end stood an altar, with a book resting on it.
He walked toward it slowly until the book lit up with a brilliant glow. Darian stopped, noticing that this light was completely different from the previous times.
It is split into two sides. On the right, there was a white light, like the purest Yang in existence. On the left, a black Yin emerged, as if it could devour all the light in the world.
They didn't repel each other—they simply stayed side by side. Then… two ethereal figures formed in front of him. Both radiated a supreme aura.
Wearing white clothes with golden details stood a male figure whose appearance, at first glance, was simple—loose black hair down to his shoulders and dark eyes. But even if it looked ordinary, like something easily seen among humans on Earth, his features were striking and unforgettable to anyone. His gaze was calm and welcoming.
On the other side, dressed in black with golden details, stood a slightly taller male figure, with sharp, firm features and a deep gaze that could send chills down your spine. He also had shoulder-length black hair, but his face was more eye-catching, and his aura stirred both fear and curiosity.
A thin silver thread connected them. Both turned toward Darian and observed him in silence.
"Father…" Darian murmured calmly, taking a deep breath.
He called them in the singular, because they were one single person. The one in white was called Bruno and represented the life he had lived on Earth. The other, in black, was called Alm, representing the life he lived after reincarnating… and becoming someone quite terrifying.
"Good job," Bruno said with a faint smile.
Alm snorted dryly. "Good job? It took him ten years to get here, and he still wasted time training people… meanwhile, his woman is out there looking for him, fighting desperately every single day."
Bruno turned to Alm with an irritated expression. "Don't be a hypocrite. You'd do the same, and if he acted differently, you'd be extremely disappointed. At least be honest with your damn son."
"Fuck that. Doesn't matter what I'd do—he could've been faster. All he had to do was attack those organizations directly and take everything. Who could've stopped him?" Alm spat.
Darian just had a faint smile; seeing the two argue like this was as normal as day and night.
Bruno snorted, ignoring him and turning back to Darian. "Don't mind him. We're proud of you. Let's get to the point… Niara hasn't been in your universe for a long time. We didn't want to tell you before, so you wouldn't worry for no reason."
Darian narrowed his eyes. "What? How did she leave?"
"When you died, she was just a mortal. But after two million years, she actually managed to break through and become an immortal. With the power she had… she couldn't just sit still waiting… your wife and your mother are quite similar, both are single-minded. We actually like that," Bruno continued with a sigh.
Darian nodded. Both of them really were alike—once they set their minds on something, they would fight until the very end to achieve it. His heart quickly started racing, filled with concern.
Alm spoke coldly. "She did the obvious. After all, she absorbed the Immortal Chaos Essence of your universe. Most immortals don't even know they can do that, so they don't try. Then she invaded the underworld, using all her power to travel as far as possible. When she got injured to the brink of death, she would just open a channel back to her universe."
"It was training… let's just say extremely bloody and brutal. We watched her get within an inch of death countless times. But her instincts and willpower are terrifying—she managed to survive every time," Bruno continued. "In the end, after countless attempts, she kept improving, going deeper and deeper into the underworld. Until… she finally managed to reach another universe."
Darian swallowed hard.
Alm snorted. "Like you can guess, her goal was to find a universe that had one of our temples. She learned from you that there were still two others, and in a place like that, she could contact someone important. She desperately wanted to know about you. But… there are millions of universes. What were the odds she'd succeed? At least Ruri isn't that ridiculously foolish…"
"Bastard, she's our daughter-in-law," Bruno snapped, shooting Alm a cold look. Then he turned back to Darian. "We weren't going to leave her helpless. In short, we marked her—turned her into our missionary, just like you were in the past."
Darian was surprised, but he nodded, relieved and grateful.
Bruno continued, "We couldn't help her without her working and building karma for it. We only guided her toward universes that needed help. She got there… and, well, did things her own way… she's a bit rough, but…"
"She did everything perfectly. No nonsense or unnecessary kindness—just a full-on bloodbath, wiping out those problematic bastards," Alm said with a faint approving smile.
Bruno snorted. "Anyway… she always managed to pull it off. So after a while, we had to move her toward her goal. As you already know, one of the temples and books is here, and bringing her here wasn't possible since she didn't have enough karma. So we sent her to the last place. If she managed to reach the temple there, we'd bring her here. But… she's still working on it, and it's already been over 3 million years, because of the time difference between universes."
He explained that the place where that temple was located existed in a universe where, after the laws changed, a unique power was born—Slaughter.
That energy was the opposite of the power of creation that all Primordial Beasts possessed. But it was incredibly compatible with them and could be absorbed easily, making them much stronger.
In that universe, there were four low-level primordial dragons. When that power appeared… all four were consumed by greed and completely ignored the life that existed there, starting a deadly war against each other.
That war lasted billions of years with no winner. Originally, Darian was supposed to resolve it—receiving a mission and going there back when he was a Spiritual Guardian. That's how he would've reached the temple.
Then, when Niara arrived…
…she solved the problem.
By brutally killing all four of them, of course.
After that, she completely sealed the core of everything—the place where the Slaughter power existed, and also where the temple was.
That power had emerged from the interaction between the energy emitted by the temple and the mutation in the universe's laws. Technically, if that temple didn't exist, that power wouldn't have appeared. So Heaven's Will had karma tied to it and could send someone to deal with it.
"In the end… the Slaughter power is extremely strong, and even after becoming an immortal, she still couldn't overcome it and reach the temple. So she stayed there, slowly absorbing that power while trying to push forward and reach the place. It's not that different from when she used to travel through the underworld—the difference is that now she can't safely return to her universe and has to retreat on her own, with her body completely wrecked. She's been at it for a long time and hasn't even made it halfway. But… as you can imagine, she's never going to give up," Bruno finished seriously.
Darian listened to everything and sighed. Niara had been fighting and pushing herself day and night to grow stronger and find out about him. Since she was an immortal, she would eventually succeed on her own. The truth was… she didn't actually need him to go help her.
But Darian wasn't going to let her suffer for nothing. And on top of that, she didn't know about the problems Lucy and Lucios were facing. In a few dozen years, they would have to face that terrifying enemy.
Alm spoke coldly, "You've reached this book. So we'll use its power to send you to that universe—and give you a bit more power to use when you break through to immortality. This is also a huge opportunity for you. If you break through now without using your techniques, you'll basically become an ordinary immortal. But… if you use the Slaughter power from that universe, you'll break through to immortality in a perfect way—just like I did in the past. Your power will be several times greater. But I don't even need to say it'll be far more dangerous, and you might die trying."
Hearing that, Darian's eyes lit up.
Bruno nodded, satisfied. Darian didn't even seem to register the word "danger"—after all, he had already overcome all kinds of things to get this far.
"We've said everything we needed to say. Your mother and Big Sister are eager to meet Niara. Don't take too long," Alm said emotionlessly.
Darian nodded, then saw thousands of points of light emerge from the void and start spinning around him.
Bruno added, "You can't enter the sealed area Niara created directly. She's not very good at manipulating space, so it's pretty unstable. If you force your way in, there's a high risk the Slaughter power will leak into the universe. A lot of mortals would die from that. But soon, mortals will have a chance to enter and leave safely. Anyway, you already know what to do."
Darian nodded firmly and clenched his fists.
"Thanks, Father. Tell those two I'll be back soon—and I'll bring Niara to meet them."
Both of them nodded. Then Darian stepped into the void… and disappeared.
