Darian clenched his fists tightly; with a sharp exhale, a multicolored light flowed through his body. At the same time, Niara also activated her full power. Two radiant lights appeared in the darkness, making all the miasma stir.

The pair of eyes kept staring at them coldly.

**BUZZZ!**

Suddenly, a violent tremor made Darian shut his eyes. He could feel the tension all around — the entire Array was reacting to the Miasma, channeling its full power to eliminate it.

It was like a blue wave coming from all directions, crashing against the miasma at the center. Space-time cracked, and the surroundings plunged into chaos.

Even so, that pair of eyes didn't move; it just kept watching them, letting its miasma be slowly erased by the Array. Darian swallowed hard, feeling coldly judged by the enemy.

When almost everything had been destroyed by the Array...

"Since you dared to come to this place, don't even dream of leaving here alive."

A dry voice echoed, and then the pair of eyes vanished along with all the miasma.

Looking toward the horizon, Darian saw the world covered in pulsating runes. Feeling those runes, he immediately took out the Academy crystal and tried to contact the outside world and Howlyn.

No success. Nothing could pass through anymore.

Darian understood instantly, thanks to what he'd learned about the Array. That figure had deliberately released its miasma and a fragment of will, forcing the Array's defense mechanism into maximum alert.

That way, the entire Sacred Tree of Enfield had been sealed by the Array, preventing anyone inside from leaving.

It worked like a prison for invaders, trapping them inside. All the worlds would remain sealed, and the Array would keep scanning for an indefinite time to ensure the corruption had really disappeared. If anything was detected, the absolute mechanism would trigger a complete self-destruction — and all life trapped within would vanish.

"He did this so we couldn't escape. Since he can't appear in the worlds — or the Array would blow itself up — he gave us two choices: either we stay trapped here like turtles in a jar until the Celestial Shadow recovers, or we attack him directly." Darian muttered seriously.

That was the will of an immortal, using the Array's rules in his favor. There was only one person who could've done this.

Darian turned to Lucy and her partner Ariu.

The Mannaz was trembling, unable even to stand. Just like her, all the Mannaz with Enfield's Bloodline reacted the same way — they felt, through their own Bloodline, the true identity of that will.

"It's... really Enfield..." Darian murmured, taking a deep breath.

Everything around them suddenly vanished, then returned to normal. Darian entered the small world again with Niara, without saying anything.

He opened the seal of the Divine Flame of Life once more. This time, the figure handed over her primordial heart to Niara and disappeared. After that, Niara took a deep breath and sat beside Darian to adapt to the changes.

Darian, meanwhile, quickly went through all the information he had received.

In the past, the Flower World and the Fruit World had been inhabited by divine beasts that were nearly extinct in that universe, just like the Blood Race.

They were races not very strong in combat, but incredibly pure — their bodies were like treasures. When the total war against the Celestial Shadow began, those races would've been wiped out within a few years, with both sides killing to obtain resources; that's why Enfield had saved a large group and brought them into this Array.

But nowadays... all those races had been refined and used... by Enfield's own hands.

A thousand years ago, he had entered the Array already as a corrupted type of Risen, under the Celestial Shadow's orders.

No Risen could enter, but he was clearly special. Using the power of a Primordial Beast within his body, he could move through the Array's shadows.

It was like the Array was an entire planet, covered by a dense atmosphere. The worlds were the continents, and the runes and the Array's power were that atmosphere. The Primordial Beasts, using their power, could move by merging with that atmosphere and becoming invisible. However, in that state, they were vulnerable and almost powerless to attack.

Enfield knew the Array's loopholes. So it was as if he had dived deep into the ocean, far from the sight of any living being on the surface. There, he built a small world connected to the entire Array but hidden from its senses. By staying within it, he could never be detected, while his servants inside the Array could still be controlled.

In short...

'The wounded body of the Celestial Shadow is here, really close to us...' Darian murmured, clenching his fists. 'But... his guardians are the two corrupted Primordial Beasts, since only they can enter here with him.'

Remembering that the Celestial Shadow was also a Primordial Beast, the three of them had infiltrated that place and were using everything that existed there to recover him from his injuries.

The Divine Flame of Life was the last one to be absorbed by him, so she saw everything happen and knew way more details than the other two.

'Now there's nowhere left to run. There are only three enemies... and they're the three final Bosses I have to kill to save this universe.' Darian thought, tense.

Unfortunately, he was still way too weak to take advantage of this huge opportunity. The enemy didn't have his Risen Lords inside, and it was unlikely such a chance would ever appear again.

Besides, he knew the Risen Lord had already recovered about 80% of his body. Darian couldn't even dream of trying to ambush him now — the risk of retaliation would be catastrophic.

'Screw it, I have to attack them. I might not win now, but at least I'll destroy this whole world and make his recovery slower... the problem is getting past his two guardians.'

He exhaled sharply. From everything he'd seen about him, when alive, Enfield had been a decent person who wanted the best for his universe. That made Darian believe even more in the clues he'd left behind along with the Heavenly Elemental Spirits.

Darian felt like he had a real chance in his hands. If he could purify Enfield, he'd gain an ally to help him fight the Divine Dragon — and together, they might be able to purify him too.

But he wasn't stupid enough to think everything would go according to plan. In fact, things *never* went according to plan.

The problem was that he didn't have enough strength to turn things around alone if something went really wrong... he was literally playing with danger.

'What choice do I have? What options are left for me?' he thought intensely, feeling a crushing pressure on his shoulders.

In the end, he'd already searched everywhere he could. In the other two worlds, everything was dead and empty — destroyed to help heal the Celestial Shadow. So the only places left were the three worlds he'd just been through.

"Dan..."

A soft voice pulled Darian out of his daze, making him turn to the side. There, a beautiful pair of amber eyes looked at him full of concern, while a firm hand held his.

"Those two... they're the reason the Mannaz exist. They sacrificed themselves for this universe, and I'm sure they'll help us. We'll fight and win, that's all." Niara said, her tone filled with unfounded confidence but unwavering determination.

Darian sighed, looking at her, then nodded slightly, a bit more relaxed. "You're right. Overthinking when there are no options left won't help."

She smiled softly, and then the two stood up and left that small world.

Outside, Camille and the others were waiting anxiously.

Darian looked at them seriously. "Everyone, start preparing for the final battle. Our opponents will be... the Divine Dragon and Enfield."