CHAPTER 287: HEROIC SHADOWS

The moment Darian opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a soldier staring at him seriously. Quickly, he looked around and saw he was in the celestial altar, just like he should be. Then he turned to the soldier and calmly asked:

"Did I earn a lot of Merit Points?"

The soldier let out a heavy sigh and nodded. Absolutely every single time Darian went to that training universe, he came back with an insane amount of points. The Empire was obviously happy about it and wouldn’t ask questions. But still... it was shocking. After all, he was a Spiritual Guardian who hadn’t even hit his two-year awakening mark yet, and he was already scoring way more points than the strongest in the Empire — by a huge margin.

Darian turned around. Then the twins, Veyle, Matteo, Eleanor, Silas, and Nayara appeared one by one. They all opened their eyes and saw the soldier staring at them.

Darian spoke calmly: "Looks like our efforts paid off. We all got a ton of Merit Points."

Everyone’s eyes lit up.

The soldier snorted and confirmed the insane amount each one of them had received. They all worked hard to fake surprise, even mumbling that their "bad luck" running into so many Risen while defending the universe had turned into a blessing in disguise. A believable lie to avoid any trouble.

They all said their goodbyes quickly and left.

Luckily, in that other universe, it was really hard for the Empire or any planet to know exactly who they were. Everyone could stay quiet and even give fake names, and neither the Summoner nor the Academy cared about that.

Every time a Spiritual Guardian created a new ring, they could change forms — and anyone could pick a random name. So, even though people in that universe had seen Niara and her partner and knew they were the culprits, nobody could connect Darian to that terrifying Spiritual Guardian who had appeared out of nowhere and caused so much chaos.

As for Niara, she almost never used her true form with metamorphosis. And the few people who had seen her — like at that party — would still notice physical differences between the two forms. Besides, Earth was just a mediocre, irrelevant planet, so it wasn’t like those people would be actively looking for her.

Outside the building, Nayara turned to them with a slightly troubled look.

Seeing her conflict, Lucy smiled and said: "No need to worry. You’re part of the Shadows of Heaven Academy, which means you’re secretly tied to our clan. You don’t have to leave your current clan or anything like that."

Nayara took a deep breath and nodded. Then she turned to Darian.

"Here on Earth, I need connections and allies who, to outsiders, aren’t directly linked to me. That way, I can move things outside my enemies’ reach. Since you’re the vice leader of the Amazon Sentinels, you’ll be very useful that way. Other than that... like Lucy said, you have two homes, and you don’t have to pick one over the other."

Darian spoke lightly. She nodded, fists clenched: "Thanks for trusting me. I’ll do my best for the clan."

They said their goodbyes, then caught a flight back home.

Not long after, they arrived in the capital and entered the clan. The place was strikingly grand and full of imposing buildings.

Leander and Harper rushed over as soon as they heard they’d returned.

"Darian! We finished the recruitment. We have over 150 people now. All between one and four rings," Harper said excitedly.

Leander looked at Darian, full of expectations: "Fifty members from the old clan came back. And also... I finally convinced her to join the clan. Damon finally..."

His voice shook at the end, a wave of strong emotion hitting him. Everyone there understood. When Darian decided to create spirit contracts with people, of course the first person he wanted to bring back was Damon. He’d thought about giving him to Harper, but...

Leander insisted it was better to wait. That was because his brother had a lover he kept hidden from the world. She wasn’t in any clan on purpose, so there’d be no obvious link to him. Damon knew they could be found out and didn’t want her caught up in his "crimes."

After he died... Leander went to find her and saw how utterly broken she was. Everyone knew Rhea and Damon had been killed for treason. But he couldn’t ask Darian to take such a risk as telling her that his brother was still with them in another form.

It wasn’t safe for anyone outside to know. So, Leander made it a priority to get her to join the new clan, so he could hand his brother over to her.

Darian didn’t hesitate and was taken straight to a new clan building — a place full of luxurious apartments for new members. As they approached and went inside, a huge commotion broke out.

Word spread fast, and people came running like an avalanche — all to see the current star of the whole Empire... and of Earth.

Everyone’s eyes were full of excitement. Darian took a deep breath, feeling those piercing stares on him.

After that tournament, everything had changed for him. No matter where he went on Earth, if he didn’t disguise himself, he’d cause the same uproar.

Darian had taken the word "shocking" to a whole new level after the tournament. On his own, he crushed all the empires and then beat that family’s heir in an even more devastating way. His name was the most talked about everywhere, with everyone trying to find out everything they could about him.

In that building, there was a meeting room where the newly arrived group stepped in. Leander waved to the crowd that had rushed over to see the leader and asked them to wait quietly outside.

Then he called her in. Within a few minutes, a relatively tall, good-looking woman with short blond hair walked in. But her face had a bit of an empty, indifferent look.

"This is Waverly. She’s a four-ring support," Leander introduced her. "Waverly, this is our leader..."

The moment she heard that, her gaze locked on Darian. Just like the others, she had that mix of curiosity and admiration in her eyes.

Leander was already holding the needle where Damon’s soul had been stored. He took a deep breath and gave a nod... a holy light flared in the middle of the hall.

"!"

Right there in front of Waverly, Rhea manifested physically. Seeing that, Waverly’s eyes went wide in pure shock.

Rhea let out a short laugh and, in just a few words, explained her current situation — especially about her son, Damon.

By the end of it, Darian took the needle and drew the sleeping soul out of it.

Turning to Waverly, he saw her trembling and crying nonstop, overwhelmed by the miracle she had just witnessed. The emptiness and pain she’d felt for just over a year couldn’t even be put into words. And now, she knew she could actually be with him again...

Without wasting time, Darian formed the contract with her and Damon. Then Rhea stepped closer, feeling her son start to awaken. If she’d had a physical body, she would’ve been crying too.

A few minutes later, Damon appeared again in front of the two women. Rhea taught him how to solidify his body as much as possible with the little power he had.

In the end... Waverly hugged him tightly, sobbing, unable to believe he was really there again.

Everyone watching the scene got a bit emotional. Darian, watching, felt a pang of regret. Damon existed now only as a soul... but he couldn’t help but wonder if, in the future, there might be a way to change that.

After a few minutes, Waverly and Damon turned to Darian and stepped closer.

"Rhea’s already told me everything, apologized, and blamed herself a lot for what happened. So... just make the most of the fact you can be together," Darian said calmly.

Damon nodded. "We’ll do everything we can to help." The two of them bowed, smiling brightly.

Darian gave a nod back and turned to Leander. He understood, and after taking a deep breath, he called in the people who’d been waiting outside.

They filed in slowly, eyes glued to Darian, and took seats in front of him.

Darian studied each of the recruits one by one, checking their karma. This was a crucial moment — he couldn’t let in people who might betray him in the future.

Luckily, Rhea and Harper had done an excellent job.

The tests had taken months and were considered extremely strict in terms of ability, but in reality, it was all just a cover — both of them had been quietly evaluating each candidate from the inside. Their power and talent didn’t matter at all — what mattered was their willpower and the goodness inside them.

All 150 chosen recruits now stood in front of Darian in the meeting room. Each person’s karma was black with a faint gray tone — already way above average compared to normal people. Still, Darian knew he couldn’t rely on that alone.

After just a few minutes of assessing them, Darian looked at everyone.

"You’re the first 150 members of the clan, and you’ll be the foundation of our rise in the Empire, and later, on Earth," he said firmly. "I’m going to teach all of you my spiritual technique: Shadow Tamer."

Darian couldn’t waste time; he needed the clan to start taking missions right away. He’d already decided how to explain his spiritual technique, and it was simple:

"My technique isn’t a regular summoning — it’s a connection to the laws of the world, allowing heroes from the past to return and bond with someone. They’ll be like shadows connected to your body, able to protect you and fight alongside you."

Everyone swallowed hard, stunned and in disbelief. The meaning of those words didn’t sink in right away...

Darian went on: "As you can imagine, these shadows from the past were once powerful Spiritual Guardians. Along with their knowledge and experience, if you give them the power of your ring and your spiritual root, they might one day use the blessings they had in the past."

Eyes went wide all over the room. Every word he spoke made them even more shocked — and no wonder. If things were really as Darian claimed, this was basically an absurd cheat.

With this, they could run missions in small groups but, in practice, have double the members — and highly experienced partners to help complete objectives and provide a huge boost in combat power.

Darian kept explaining briefly, without worry. Even if the shadow spirits formed contracts with someone, in the end, they’d still be connected to him.

The contract was a mutual partnership, and if a Spiritual Guardian ever left the clan or did something unforgivable, Darian could easily break the bond — avoiding any problems.