It’s Gonna Work

Ceug turned to his two allies and ordered them to head straight to the other six battlefronts. They could feel that something really serious had happened, but they couldn't disobey and left immediately.

Once they were at a safe distance, Ceug turned to his partner, tense, and spoke seriously:

"In the second line, several of them showed up at once… One or more Risen Lords must have sensed something was off and sent their underlings among the Summoners."

The Ice Egle snorted. "Those two you sent must've just failed to kill that half-dragon quickly. So she found a way to call for backup."

"I sent Ulqui to make sure they killed her this time… If he failed, that means the other Risen Lord worked together and put more than one mark on the Summoners to keep me from being alerted," Ceug said seriously. "Before, not even Ulboa's divine arrow worked… Our only advantage was that they didn't count on the abyssal heart being with us."

Ceug found himself facing a complex situation. The plan had been meticulously crafted by a Risen Lord over a thousand years and yet it had failed. Now, he and all his allies were in serious danger; if they were discovered, they'd have nowhere to run and would be forced to leave the galaxy. Surviving outside of it would be impossible.

"Fuck it all," the Ice Egle said without hesitation. "Remove the seal and use all the power of that abyssal heart to kill everyone."

Ceug turned to him and shook his head.

"If we do that, everything will fall apart for good. Most of the Risen in this nest were created by other Risen Lords. Refining them will leave clear traces that connect them to the owner of the abyssal heart. Obviously, that breaks the rules of the Celestial Shadow. They'd have a legit reason to band together against the traitor in a fight to the death."

"So what?" the Egle replied dryly. "If the others have activated their marks, it means they now know about the abyssal heart. That is, they'll come at it with everything they've got to absorb it. The owner of that heart left security measures; when he senses death approaching, he'll use them to bring it back safely. You really think we'll come out alive after that?"

Ceug swallowed hard. A Risen Lord would never leave something so important in someone else's hands without safety guarantees. The cost might be high, but because of the heart's connection, it was likely he could get it back.

"I already said before: we're gonna use the heart to kill everyone in the nest," the Egle spread his wings, radiating a killer aura. "After that, we'll destroy the heart ourselves and condemn the owner to a quick death. When we get out, we'll tell the allied Summoners that something went wrong, and they won't know the truth for a while. But… when I get back to my universe, the merits for practically killing a Risen Lord and destroying a nest will be off the charts."

He smiled coldly.

"When I get back here, I should have seven rings, pretty close to solidifying the eighth. That way, we can deal with those who know too much among the Summoners and bury these events for good. We've got nothing to lose."

Ceug swallowed hard before quickly replying:

"That'd be impossible. If I remove the seal, I'll have to use all the power of the abyssal heart to defeat the marked ones. I can barely use even 1%; forcing it will damage the heart. The danger of damaging the abyssal heart would alert the Risen Lord, who'd mark me to stop it, and then bring the heart back no matter what."

The Ice Egle smiled sideways. "Ah… You asked me before, and I said that one day you'd find out why."

His entire body started to glow with an intense, icy light. "That's why I created that variation of my blessing. Do you really think I'd be at the mercy of some Risen bastard, just a little stronger than the others? From the start, I prepared for this."

"Absolute Freezing Blessing…" Ceug murmured, thoughtful. "You really can…?"

"Yeah, I'll seal the mark at a high cost. Our progress on the six rings will completely reset to the beginning. But the gains will be a thousand times greater. We'll indirectly kill a Risen Lord, and I'll be the first in history to earn those merits."

The Ice Egle stated with conviction. Ceug immediately understood, and a surge of exhilaration took over him.

This disaster… was really a golden opportunity fallen from the sky for the two of them.

***

A few minutes later.

Suddenly, all the Summoners and their Spiritual Guardians who were fiercely fighting in the second, third, and fourth lines felt a new shift.

The battle in the nest had already been filled with inexplicable events, but no one had a choice but to push forward and keep massacring the enemies. However, this time…

The environment, already dark and saturated with miasma, became even denser. Before, you could see a few meters ahead. Now, not even your own hands were visible.

And then…

*BOOM!*

The Risen became countless times stronger. What had once been a fight at the edge turned into almost an absolute massacre.

In the second line, in an isolated area, Darian noticed everything.

'He… He really used the heart, then killed all his allies and the Risen in the first line.'

Niara took a deep breath. Her partner had caused unbelievable chaos—and now he was just cranking it up even more.

Darian added, 'Probably, my plan to fool him worked. I don't know the details, but he must've decided that he needed to kill everyone. Great, it's gonna work!'

Niara nodded and focused. Darian snorted, activating several tiny black lines that appeared around him.

At different points in the second line, Chaos Crystals, previously positioned, began to pulse.

Earlier, when returning to the second line, Darian had absorbed the karma from the fallen Risen there. Then, he easily located the veins where the crystals had accumulated. He unearthed them and infused them with his dark power, keeping them under temporary control.

When several of them, in various places, were ready, he started to activate them.

If the enemies could feel him because of the dark energy, they'd also feel the crystals—but without knowing what they really were.

In the end, it seemed to work.

'Here he comes!' Darian warned, sensing two presences wrapped in karma advancing. No doubt, a Summoner and their Spiritual Guardian. 'They're heading straight for trap number four. Go!'

Niara moved immediately. Darian, for his part, completely focused.

A few minutes later, Ceug arrived flying, riding on his partner. As soon as they landed, they narrowed their eyes.

There wasn't a single Summoner in sight. Just a dense, threatening power… coming from underground.

Both kept their guard up.

Ceug spat out a mouthful of black blood. Dark veins pulsed over his body, accompanied by the sound of a heart pounding violently.

His partner backed away, as if distancing himself from something dangerous. His ice body, once gleaming, was now pale and worn.

Off in the distance, hidden, Darian smiled coldly as he took it all in.

If the natives of this universe died or transformed when hit by a Risen... how could a Summoner hold out long enough to retreat and heal?

He'd wondered about that, but Niara never had an answer.

So he came up with a theory. And now, watching Ceug and his partner, he was sure.

'A contract with a Spiritual Guardian gives a Summoner resistance to corruption.'

It was automatic—the partner transferred part of his power to the Summoner, leaving himself drastically weakened in return. It was a way to stave off corruption, though clearly only temporary.

The Ice Egle had six rings. If they acted fast enough, his power could let the Summoner resist the black heart... but at a very high price.

Darian smiled.

The Ice Egle retreated even further. Now, Ceug was the main force, and his partner was the piece to be protected.

They could sense something was off. Ceug would move ahead first, while the Egle held the rear.

When Ceug stepped forward a few meters...

He stopped.

A slight tremor came from behind.

He turned slowly.

And then his eyes went wide.

A new mass of black power had suddenly appeared.

**PIERCE!!**

Flying just a few meters above the ground, the Ice Egle was pierced by several metal spears, all wrapped in black power.

Then he fell.

The impact was muffled, but Ceug couldn't process what he saw.

Until...

A searing pain, like his very soul was shattering, tore through him.

The Summoner's contract.

His partner... had been killed.

*Crack!*

Inside his body, the sound of an ice seal breaking echoed.

The freezing power wasn't natural. It was linked to the Egle's blessing. When a blessing has an abnormally high capacity, it means the laws of the universe twist reality so it can exist.

So, after the user died, the laws of the world scattered that abnormal power that shouldn't have existed.

Ceug felt his soul being gripped by a dark hand. Then his consciousness faded.

At that moment, Niara got chills as she sensed death's presence.

Darian felt the whole nest, heavy with miasma, shift. He also noticed the change in Ceug.

'Did he become a Risen?'

Darian murmured thoughtfully.

Then, suddenly...

It felt like his body was being hammered down.

An overwhelming, crushing black presence tore through space and appeared right before him.

Darian could only move his eyes.

And he saw those red eyes staring right at him.

That's when he knew.

No... he hadn't become a Risen.

This was the Risen Lord himself.