"Hang in there," Darian’s voice came softly to Niara.
The two of them were now sharing that mini-dragon ’body’. The twins and Howlyn, feeling that she had woken up, looked at Darian with relief.
In the other galaxy, the leader of the Abyssal Corrupted Wolves was staring at the spatial pearl and the black mark left behind by Darian. All his allies were gathered in the village, anxious and waiting for news.
Suddenly, the black mark pulsed.
Everyone saw it and nearly jumped. He immediately gave the order:
"Gather everything and everyone! We’re leaving!"
Minutes later, a spatial channel opened on that planet, one of the inscription-linked worlds. Nearly two hundred people found themselves in a complete desert.
The planet had no life at all, and they couldn’t sense any danger or traces of anything. It was just cold sand and an intense metallic smell in every direction.
After the inscription activated, all the Risen were killed. But it wasn’t just their lives that disappeared. The power of the inscription was absolute, destroying all corruption and even all physical remains that held any trace of it. Everything turned to dust.
It was a colossal waste, but there was no way to save anything. Not even their dark karma remained, and Darian didn’t get the chance to devour it.
Up above, everyone saw a faint golden layer. The planet’s protection was now active. That confirmed total victory, leaving everyone emotional.
Suddenly, a spatial fluctuation was felt ahead. Another channel appeared, connecting that place to the main planet.
Once it stabilized, everyone rushed excitedly to cross over.
Howlyn and all the Abyssal Corrupted Wolves met. In that moment, a strange silence settled.
She was definitely one of them, but... there was something weird and slightly oppressive coming from her. It was just like everyone who had been turned into Risen and later cured by Darian.
"Ancestral..." the beast leader muttered, recognizing her.
Howlyn sighed. She never had kids, but her siblings did. So that leader was calling her ancestral because they were distant relatives.
All the time she’d been a Risen Lord, she gathered information about her race and tried to help them from the shadows as much as she could. They were all used by the academy and their Summoners because of their natural resistance to corruption.
It hadn’t been hard for her to control the Risen they were forced to fight, always avoiding a massacre. If not for her, that race would’ve been wiped out long ago. Now, she could take care of them directly again.
The demon beasts brought countless common beasts too, allies of the wolves on the planet. Also coming were everyone who’d been cured from corruption and all those who had fought alongside Darian and Niara.
"Endi, we need to move fast." Darian’s voice sounded loud, coming from a crater up ahead.
Endi ran and soon saw, stunned, the academy’s core and Niara’s body sealed inside. As he got closer, Darian spoke:
"The connection to Celestia Academy is slowly being rebuilt. I need your expertise. Completely block their connection coming in."
Endi heard that and his eyes widened. Not just him—everyone approaching heard and turned to Darian.
He let out a breath: "Yeah, I’m not taking any unnecessary risks. From now on, this academy will be independent and separate from Celestia Academy."
Endi thought for a moment, understanding a bit of the situation. "But... the barrier power won’t stay at its peak for long. Since we’ve only got one inscription member, if the Risen keep pressing on the other three sides, eventually the recovery speed won’t cover the damage. We can’t survive long without Celestia Academy’s help."
"I’m making conquering the other three a priority. After that, we’ll take back all the planets in this galaxy and stabilize everything. Counting on their ’help’, with so many powerful traitors, is just asking to die." Darian said flatly.
Endi took a deep breath, then nodded. He moved to the core, and soon Darian explained why Niara was in there.
Endi had studied inscriptions his whole life and obviously read and researched everything he could about the terrifying academy inscription. Since everything was exposed now, within minutes he understood the basic workings and managed to control some of the runes.
With one move, he blocked the channel with Celestia Academy.
"All done. If you want, I can think of a way for only our side to go back and forth. If I create a badge with the mark, it’s doable. But it could be risky if the traitors steal it."
Endi explained, and Darian nodded, then looked at Ruoku, Leander’s Summoner.
"Ruoku, Leander told me you’re the son of merchants and you love that line of work. Are you willing to be the trade mediator between this new academy and Celestia Academy? It’s gonna be risky, but this is a huge survival matter. We’ll get stuff here that the other galaxy doesn’t have. So we need to trade to get what we’re missing."
It really was risky, but the five Mannaz who had become leaders of Celestia Academy were trustworthy. For a while, they could help protect Ruoku using their academy’s inscription.
And Ruoku knew his partner wouldn’t be coming back to this universe. So now he was free to live the life he’d always wanted. And more than that, he’d just been given a super important job doing something he actually enjoyed.
After getting his nod, Darian turned to Endi: "Great. Later, you’ll have time to study the inscription as much as you want. You’re in charge of it. But right now... we need to do something about this new home."
He got serious. That planet, just like the other one, was completely dead and lifeless. Everything, except for the academy which was protected, had been destroyed and turned to dust. Both planets were just colossal deserts now.
Darian knew Gaia was dead, so there was no way to naturally recover the planet. And there wasn’t even a sun. Restarting the academy here and then trying to grow would be nearly impossible under these conditions.
But Endi and Darian had a solution. Something they had briefly talked about before, while still making plans to attack Celestia Academy.
Howlyn noticed Darian’s look and walked over. She pulled out the five Stellar Ore he had given her for the final battle.
Four came from the inscription planets Darian attacked and conquered. One came from the level B martial art test earlier.
"She’s a specialist at controlling their power. That was what you said was a problem, right?" Darian asked Endi.
He nodded, surprised.
The plan was simple. Endi would replicate that tower, the planetary inscription tower created by the Bird Tribe King. He was the only one who knew how that thing worked, being insanely massive and efficient.
On that planet Darian had visited and destroyed, the tower absorbed Yang energy from the sun and spread it through the ground, making life bloom incredibly fast and strong.
Using solar Yang was simple, it just rained down on the planet and didn’t resist much. It wasn’t high-level Yang, still mixed with other elements.
Darian wanted to use the five Stellar Ore, which were like cores that could naturally absorb the universe’s life energies.
The goal was to merge the five into the source of the new tower, nourishing the planet and making life bloom there. The life energy inside the Stellar Ore was way more powerful for creating life than the impure solar Yang. On the flip side, it was just as hard to control.
But Howlyn could easily solve that problem.
Darian turned to everyone.
"Starting today, a new academy will be born. Howlyn, you’ll be the leader..."
She cut him off quickly: "If Sir trusts me, I’ll run everything with my life. But I’ll only be the vice leader. I’m not accepting anything above you."
Darian let out a breath. This wasn’t important. In the end, he wouldn’t do anything as leader and she’d take care of it all. It’d be just like... wait, wasn’t he already the leader of a clan too?
Lucy smiled and announced: "Perfect! This will be the Shadows of Heaven Academy, just like the clan on Earth. Now Big Bro’s the leader of a clan and an academy, in two different universes."
Everyone nodded and agreed instantly.
With a sigh, Darian nodded: "I don’t have much free time. Let’s start rebuilding and checking everything we’ve got here. Endi, lay the foundation for everything, right now."
"YES!" everyone answered in unison, excited.
Everyone was sure: that day would be remembered as the start of the academy’s rebirth—and also the rebirth of the entire universe.