The whole place got tense. Fighting a summoner? That was insane. Those Elders could barely beat a Risen.
Even so, they seemed calm. Did these foolish young ones really think the Academy was that easy?
"You’re being pretty arrogant and reckless," the Academy Leader’s completely indifferent voice rang out. "I’ll let it go this time, since you’re still young. Don’t jump to conclusions too fast. The world isn’t black and white. Let’s call a meeting and talk things through civilly, about whatever it is you found."
At that moment, the slug’s eyes shifted slightly. He was staring right at the Academy Leader. The more experienced Elders noticed and nodded — to them, the slug was hesitating.
One of them spoke up, trying to calm things down: "Take it easy. This is a very important moment for our whole universe. Our first counterattack is happening, and a lot of High Elders are involved, helping organize the troops."
That very experienced Elder looked right into Niara’s eyes: "If something goes wrong in the Academy, they’ll have to come back to check on it. They can’t just abandon the home they have for a chance at another. Are you really sure about what you’re accusing? Are you sure you’ve thought it all through?"
Niara just snorted. Think? That’s her partner’s job. She turned to the Academy Leader — it was the first time she’d seen him. Her instincts went on full alert. He was definitely an enemy, and she wanted to kill him right away.
At the same time, Darian came back to reality. It had only taken him a minute.
This time... his curse hadn’t been that helpful.
He saw a lot of things — including that Leader next to other summoners causing huge losses to the universe. That had built up karma that Darian could see. But in this current situation, since he hadn’t done anything yet related to the counterattack plans, nothing more was revealed.
Darian snorted. He’d always relied on luck and his curse to handle things; now it had let him down.
He thought fast and, looking at the Elders around him...
...his eyes landed on a woman with Dragon Bloodline.
Her whole body was covered in green scales, and she had short bluish hair. They were traits similar to Niara’s — both of them had a clear physical throwback to the same Bloodline.
"Lanalia," he murmured. That Elder looked surprised. She’d been Oliver’s summoner for a short time. And she was the mother of that egg that would never hatch.
Darian recognized her from the descriptions he’d been given. Then he quietly spoke two more names.
He called out Yeon, Damon’s former summoner — a tall woman with yellow feathers all over her body — and also Hyun, Rhea’s former summoner — a short man with white ears on his head, like a wolf.
As soon as Darian spoke their names, he spotted them among the Elders. These three were now just regular Elders after their partners had been confirmed dead.
The slug spoke calmly: "I’m from the Azure Haven Clan. I knew your former partners and wanted to talk to them before. If you trust the ones who passed, step away from this."
The three of them swallowed hard. Lanalia had only spent a short time with Oliver, but she’d trusted him deeply — so much that she left her child with him. She knew a bit about Earth and was sure that clan would take care of her child, even after Oliver’s death.
The other two were the same. They knew very well that only trustworthy people were brought into that clan.
Even though they were still in shock over their partners’ deaths, now they were sure that this slug wasn’t a traitor and had reasons for what he was doing.
The three clenched their fists and nodded subtly.
The slug was satisfied, then stared at the Leader. "I already gave you a chance. Are you really gonna keep up this act?"
That Leader snorted. "That’s my line. What you’re doing here, at this very moment, will be seen as a revolt — a premeditated act of treason. You won’t have a place to live in this galaxy anymore. All the other summoners and their partners will hunt you down until you’re dead. Are you ready for that?"
Darian didn’t flinch. He’d seen some things in this Leader’s karma, and feeling that about one-third of the Elders had similar karma... the way things stood, these traitors inside the Academy could cause everything to collapse way faster than expected.
If he didn’t take this chance now, while the summoners were away... he and the twins would be constantly at risk, in totally unpredictable ways.
At the Abyssal Nest, they’d been very lucky things had worked out. And now, in this counterattack, after discovering that Risen with the spatial pearl, he was sure there were lots of schemes in motion.
The galaxy was about to be secretly invaded.
And that "counterattack" was doomed to fail completely.
He didn’t have solid info yet on how they were planning to do it. But he was certain of one thing: if he cut out the Academy’s rotten core right now, he could create a chance for victory in the counterattack — or maybe even prevent something much worse.
Even if he cleaned out the Academy and the counterattack was a success... among the summoners and Spiritual Guardians, there were traitors with plenty of rings. In that battle, once they saw their plans had failed, they’d just take over the other Academy and pretend nothing was going on.
That was the most logical thing to do. After all, they’d still earn a lot of merit from it. But once they got back after that so-called "victory"... yeah, Darian would be hunted down with no chance of surviving. The only way out would be to run and never come back.
How had things ended up so suddenly?
This was his second time in this universe, and he only had one ring. Now everything was flipped upside down. Even his younger brother and sister were in serious danger.
’Niara, things just got way more complicated from here on out. But I’m sure if we push forward, we can give this universe a chance — or at least buy it more time.’ he said to her mentally, dead serious.
She answered without hesitation, ’No reason to hesitate. I feel exactly what you do, and I know you’re trying to save my home. After that, you’ll figure out a solution.’
He’d already carved that thought into his mind. He could never back down out of fear, or stop trying to get stronger.
Maybe, if he didn’t take action now, this counterattack would already lead to the complete and irreversible end of this universe.
The whole conversation had lasted less than three minutes.
He wasn’t about to drag it out — he’d just waited to find those three Elders and check the Leader’s karma.
"Sometimes, some people only listen when faced with raw power. So be it..."
Darian said coldly. At the same time, Niara felt a black power fill her spiritual root.
Her eyes gleamed with a violent, sinister light.
At that moment, everyone in Celestia Academy — and across the whole planet — felt the day darken and the temperature drop drastically.