Darian and Niara stepped out of the spatial channel, then found themselves in the middle of darkness. The first thing they noticed was a strong smell of blood and death.
"Kill!"
Furious roars echoed above their heads. Only then did the two realize they were in a massive battlefield, at the bottom of a deep abyss.
They immediately floated upward and soon found themselves under a dark night sky, with no source of light at all.
Corpses were scattered all over the ground. A bit farther away, they saw countless races wearing armor that radiated an intense white glow.
The two landed on the ground and narrowed their eyes coldly. They had felt something identical before. Those white armors gave off the same power that Mannaz and his enemies had in the final battle of that other universe. In other words, those were soldiers of the former missionary, Byon.
All those enemy soldiers were at the absolute peak of Qi Gathering cultivation. In all common universes, this type of cultivation existed, though each universe had its own realms and peculiarities.
But with the power of the armor coming from Byon, their strength was equivalent to an Immortal at the elemental level. The enemy army had hundreds of thousands of people, advancing in groups from every direction.
Both Darian and Niara could kill those soldiers with a single move. But if all of them combined their power coming from Byon, strange and dangerous variations could happen. In other words, they couldn't act recklessly.
Looking at the flow where the soldiers were converging, they saw a gigantic black city.
The black city was surrounded by a multicolored barrier of light and housed an imposing castle. On top of the castle, a sphere of multicolored light looked like a strange eye watching the world.
Darian had never seen anything like it, but he felt that it was a high-level defensive inscription, made with the unique materials of this universe.
The "eye" was shining. It seemed to be the core of the castle, but that core was exposed and cracked. Clearly, the people in the city were slowly losing this battle.
Taking a deep breath, Darian felt the reason. On the front lines, commanding everything in this attack, was an absurdly powerful figure.
"It's a Natural Immortal, level 3." Niara murmured, her tone filled with killing intent.
Darian nodded. In the past, Darian didn't know about immortal levels or anything like that. But now, he understood that all the immortals he had helped create before were permanently at the elemental level, which was like level 0.
They couldn't evolve because they didn't know how. Even Niara had spent millions of years at that same level, and she had no idea how to advance.
Only after Darian and Niara returned to the Celestial universe were they taught by Meru how to advance. That was highly restricted knowledge, something you couldn't find in common universes. So all immortals in common universes were basically destined to never evolve.
As for this enemy... he had that former missionary as a leader, someone who knew exactly how to do it.
In other words, facing an army of immortal-level soldiers, commanded by such a powerful leader, the Spiritual Guardians and the natives of this universe were at a huge disadvantage, and now they were about to lose this battle.
Lucy, Lucius, and Darian's other allies had performed a real miracle. Even though they were weaker, they managed to keep the pressure and delay Byon's recovery until now.
In the distance, spatial rifts were starting to appear. Sharp blades cut through the void, as if trying to split heaven and earth apart. This was a battle at an unbelievable level.
Suddenly, Darian felt a gust of wind. A lifeform in glowing armor had noticed them and was attacking.
Niara moved. That soldier was killed instantly with a casual punch from her.
But seeing the armor intact and still radiating power, an idea appeared in Darian's mind.
Darian moved quickly, sealing the armor's power. Then, he put it on. Taking a deep breath, he activated his domain, hiding his entire aura. Their physiques weren't that different, so that was enough for him to blend in among the soldiers.
Darian looked at the nearby soldiers, searching for something. Until he found the perfect target and pointed at Niara.
She understood and moved like lightning. There was a group of three soldiers, archers. One of them was an elf woman, wearing the same armor and with a physique similar to Niara's.
Niara took down all three instantly, before they could even begin to sense her.
Soon, Darian did the same for Niara. After she put on the armor, the two of them put on helmets, hiding their faces; then, their auras and everything about them looked perfectly identical to ordinary soldiers.
Without delay, Darian and Niara advanced.
Minutes later...
"Kill! Kill them all! There's no reason to be afraid!"
As he approached the crowd, Darian immediately started shouting. He had heard some people speaking earlier and knew that everyone spoke the same language.
However, the moment he shouted, he realized no one was paying him any attention. Instead, he attracted the wrath of a commander.
"Why are you yelling?! Get lost! The city gates will fall soon! If you dare slack off, I'll kill you."
The armor they wore had symbols of their ranks, and anyone could identify a person's status just by their armor. Darian simply hadn't noticed... but who cares?
*BANG!*
Before Niara could react, Darian moved and crushed that individual with a punch.
"Fuck, you dare yell in front of me? What an audacious bastard." Darian spat.
The surrounding soldiers jumped in shock. Had a subordinate attacked a superior? That was a serious criminal offense.
"What are you all staring at? I'm one of your generals in disguise. I was sent to keep an eye on all of you! Anyone who slacks off will be killed by me!" Darian shouted.
Those soldiers were stunned. They couldn't sense his cultivation, but he had defeated a commander in a single move; naturally, his words made some sense.
"What are you looking at?! Attack!" Darian brandished a spear he picked up from the ground. Those who had followed that dead commander could now only follow him.
Niara held herself back from laughing, already understanding Darian's intentions. He led hundreds of them into an attack and, like that, they approached the city walls.
On the defending side, trying to repel the enemies, the two saw several Spiritual Guardians with nine rings, along with a few dozen immortals. They all attacked until they were injured or out of energy, then retreated back into the city.
Darian first wanted to see what was going on. It seemed the city's defenses had been reinforced to the limit, and the attackers were going all out to flood the city. That meant the city had been holding on heroically so far.
"Are you blind? Don't just run around aimlessly! The left flank is the weakest! Attack the left flank!"
Darian led his group straight toward the city gates, only to be met by a Grand Commander shouting orders at them.
"What do you know? The vulnerable left flank is bait! The front gate is our real objective!" Darian ignored him. Who cared if it was vulnerable? Going through the gates was the fastest way in.
"You're not obeying orders? Die!" The Grand Commander charged furiously at Darian.
Seeing this, Darian snorted and threw a punch. As a result, that idiot screamed; his arm was destroyed.
Grabbing him by the neck, Darian lifted him like a chicken.
Then Darian spoke in a loud, powerful tone. "Master Yurindar ordered me to oversee the battle! I'm in charge of secretly controlling the pace of the attack. You fools have wasted so many warriors for nothing, without even taking the city. You're all trash! Master Yurindar is already extremely dissatisfied, so I was ordered to bring down the city gates in the blink of an eye. Otherwise, all of you will die. If you don't want to die, you'd better follow my orders! If you want to die, just nod, and I'll send you on your way!"
On the way here, he had heard several people shouting Yurindar's name, which was why he used it to intimidate them.
That Grand General's head buzzed with Darian's words. He was terrified because he felt incredibly weak in front of him. He felt like Darian might even have power comparable to a Sacred General.
"S-Senior… please, spare my life. We'll listen to you!" The man trembled, finally believing Darian was one of Yurindar's trusted subordinates.
"Call all our soldiers, don't spare anyone! We'll break the gate open!" Darian shouted. Then he released him, and the man immediately began gathering the soldiers.
*BOOM!*
At that moment, an explosion shook the skies. Two figures emerged from that distorted spatial battlefield. When Darian and Niara saw one of them, both swallowed hard.
In that battle, the two most powerful individuals were fighting. One of them was a large man in shining white armor, wearing a sinister blood-colored helmet.
The other was a Dragoness of incomparable beauty, covered in violet scales.
'Alear...' Niara murmured in a deeply emotional tone. It had been millions of years since she last saw her adopted daughter.
Fighting fiercely with her bare fists, Alear was noble and cold, beautiful and dangerous. Her eyes were like emeralds, containing a magical light that could draw people's souls into them.
"Your city will fall soon. Even if I have to use my soldiers' lives to slowly climb to the top, I'll still crush it. Once your city is destroyed, let's see how you'll protect this place! You will definitely die today," the armored man said, laughing.
His armor pulsed and was covered in teeth and scales. His helmet covered his face, and his voice was hoarse and unpleasant to hear.
"Just you?", Alear muttered. She exuded the aura of a warrior forged through endless battles, completely cold even in the face of danger. That made Darian and Niara smile subtly, filled with pride.
That man was Yurindar, a Sacred General, precisely the leader of this entire attack. He was a level 3 Natural Immortal. As for Alear, as expected, she was still at the elemental level.
Even so, she didn't seem to be at a huge disadvantage. Even though she was weaker in overall power, their daughter was a true monster. Her body was a pure primordial body, and her bloodline was equally powerful.
Alear had spoken arrogantly before, but her lips carried a faint reddish tint. It was her blood. Although she could fight without losing… winning was another matter.
"Let's see how long you can last. Once the formation is broken, you'll definitely be dead!"
Yurindar snorted and struck at her with his hammer.
The two began fighting again in the skies, and space distorted once more. Their immense power tore through space, making it impossible for others to see their figures. All that could be seen was the sky constantly collapsing, as if the end of the world had arrived.
'She won't last much longer.' Darian was certain.
The most worrying part was that the enemies had far too many soldiers. They outnumbered the city's army by more than ten times. The formation would probably be broken even before Alear was defeated.
"Why are you just standing there?! Attack already!" At that moment, a furious roar echoed. A General shouted at Darian and his troops.
The Grand Commander whom Darian had previously intimidated was a subordinate of this General. Darian now had the entire army right behind him, blindly following his orders. However, because of Alear, they had all stopped moving and attacking.
"This… this elder ordered us to follow his instructions."
Said the Grand General from before. He immediately absolved himself of any blame and pushed all responsibility onto Darian.
That General grew furious as he tried to sense Darian's power. He called this brat an elder?
The General shouted: "Brat, you—"
*BANG!*
The moment he shouted, Niara appeared like a ghost in front of him and punched him straight in the face. As a result, caught off guard and not in a combat-ready state, he was sent flying, spitting blood and teeth.
That punch left everyone on the battlefield stunned. They looked at Niara and Darian in shock.
Before they could recover, Darian pointed at the General and cursed: "You useless trash, you still haven't taken the city after all this time! Do we need garbage like you? Kill yourself and stop embarrassing yourself here. If the master had to rely on trash like you to achieve anything, it'd already be too late. I'll show you what real power looks like, you worthless pieces of shit!"
Darian rose into the air. Then, a golden fireball appeared in his hand.
In the very same second, a terrifying primordial power covered everything. The wind and clouds changed color. The world was dyed gold.
The elemental energies of the entire planet and universe moved. Countless flame runes filled the area and surged toward Darian's fireball, making it grow and grow until it became something gigantic and colossal.
As for the General, just as he was about to move to kill Darian and Niara, he was stunned by that scene.
"When did the master create someone this terrifying?" That General felt a chill as he sensed that overwhelming pressure. Aside from Yurindar himself, he had never seen anyone capable of releasing such power before.
The flames rose higher. A golden sun filled the world with its light, growing more and more… the bigger it became, the greater its power.
Even the General was terrified by that massive golden sun. The power contained in that single move was astonishing.
When it reached a certain size, black strands appeared. In truth, they weren't strands, but thin spatial cracks. Not even space itself could withstand that kind of power.
Niara stood right beside Darian. At that moment, she couldn't hold back and smiled sinisterly.
Suddenly, Darian turned toward the army in shining armor that stared at him in shock and anticipation.
Yurindar's subordinates were quite obedient. Following Darian's orders, they had gathered and stopped attacking the barrier. They knew that once Darian's attack was unleashed, the barrier would definitely collapse.
An army of hundreds of thousands had retreated and was now gathered together, afraid of being caught in Darian's attack. They were just waiting for the barrier to break so they could charge in.
As for the army defending the city... when they saw the golden sun filling the sky, despair took over. There was no way the formation could block it.
Alear was locked in a bloody battle, so she had no time to think about anything else.
In a battle like that, all her focus had to be on her opponent. However, when she felt that terrifying power rising, she faltered, almost unable to believe what she was sensing. The distraction nearly caused her to suffer serious injuries.
As for Yurindar, he was startled and stopped attacking.
Then he looked at Darian. When he saw that golden sun… and the sinister smile of the woman beside him, his expression changed.
He realized Darian's target wasn't the barrier, but his own subordinates!
His figure staggered, but the moment he moved, Alear struck him with a precise blow. She followed up with a series of consecutive attacks, forcing him to retreat rapidly. She definitely wouldn't let the enemy pass and immediately began launching risky attacks.
"FUCK!!!" he roared, exploding with rage.
Suddenly, Darian hurled the golden sun, the condensation of all the power of his Golden Crow bloodline, toward the army.
Those people didn't even react before the golden sun exploded right in the middle of them.
**KBOOOM!**
A wave of fire engulfed the army. A massive mushroom cloud erupted.
There was no spray of sand or debris. The terrifying heat simply incinerated everything. A sea of lava formed on the ground, and everyone was reduced to ashes by that attack.
Darian chose this move because he didn't want to use his real weapons and risk Byon, who was in the same universe, sensing him too early. But with the boost from his Celestial bloodline amplifying everything, it was more than enough.
In the middle of the chaos.
"DISAPPEAR!"
Suddenly, Niara appeared behind Yurindar, and her power erupted like a volcano.
That man, who was already stunned by the explosion of power and focused on the opponent in front of him, suddenly widened his eyes when he realized that this second woman was at the same level as him. But… it was too late.
**BANG!**
With a violent, devastating strike, Niara made him explode, completely destroying his physical body.
"Brat!" Niara roared.
Alear snapped out of her daze and moved on instinct, attacking right after.
"NO!!"
With a scream of despair, that figure's immortal soul was struck head-on and also exploded.
Just like that, that Sacred General, a terrifyingly powerful immortal, was completely killed.
At the same time, his entire powerful army was also wiped out in a single blow.
Everything happened too fast.
At that moment, Alear trembled, her eyes locked onto the two figures, like a dam that had just burst.
"Papa... mama..."
Darian sighed, "Daughter, I've returned."
