Staring at that warm, beautiful smile, Darian let out a deep sigh. Niara had once been someone important and incredibly powerful, but even then, she failed to merge with the Immortal Chaos Essence. And now, in barely ten minutes, she had managed to do it, against all odds.

What changed? From Enfield's description... only now did Darian notice that the core of her personality was still the same. But, at the same time, she was a completely different person.

She'd lived countless lives suffering and dying tragically because of the karma she'd accumulated. But through all of that, she learned to value what really mattered, and to live the right way.

For her, that meant living her life intensely beside the ones she cared about, but without forgetting that others were important too. With everyone, even the ones she didn't know, being safe and well, the world around would become beautiful and a lot more fun to live in.

Darian knew this woman well, and he knew exactly what she wanted. She was willing to protect this universe with her own life. But one couldn't be naïve; the collective consciousness of this universe had to be desperate. The universe was basically one step away from being destroyed, with the Celestial Shadow close to fully recovering.

Meanwhile, Darian's and Niara's past actions in this universe made all the ordinary people living in it know who they were... mostly because of that Mannaz group they had helped before.

They started calling Niara the second coming of the Divine Dragon and spreading to others who they were. Which, ironically, couldn't have been more accurate.

Over the last thousand years, the Mannaz started hoping and praying for their return to this universe. That's because, over that time, it became clear that the Celestial Shadow was the most benefited, getting dangerously close to resurrecting. That made everyone even more desperate, creating a much bigger acceptance of Niara.

In the end, adding everything up, that made Niara get accepted completely and extremely fast. The problem was that, even then, she had a ridiculous chance of surviving the fusion. But... she was the type who could do anything as long as she was really trying.

"Nice job, I don't even know why I was worried." Darian said lightly.

"Hehe... this time, I stole a bit of your spotlight, huh?" Niara replied with a soft laugh, then stared at that frozen Corrupted Dragon.

That creature had its entire draconic Bloodline suppressed by Niara. It was just an empty, dead body forcefully moving to fight. But Niara now...

Darian felt not only her semi-immortal soul, but also... her entire body was radiating an intense primordial power. That came from this universe's Immortal Chaos Essence, which was now one with her whole existence.

She wasn't an immortal, but as long as this universe remained alive, she could be reborn — just like Darian did. On top of that, the primordial power combined with her draconic Bloodline and her spiritual root... it was an almost identical combination to the power of a true Primordial Beast.

Meaning... right now Niara was a strange and anomalous entity, but absurdly powerful.

**ROAAAAR!**

After less than a minute, that dragon broke free from Niara's suppression, using all the corrupt power in its body.

Niara took a step, appearing beside Darian smoothly.

They didn't need to exchange words; they already knew perfectly how to act together.

Darian closed his eyes, focusing. At the same time, Niara snorted.

*Divine Dragon Possession*

In that instant, Niara wasn't covered in scales anymore, but in small and countless terrifyingly bright runes. The sky and earth changed color, and an invincible will permeated the world.

Everyone looked to the skies, stunned. They stared at Niara and Darian, both radiating equally terrifying light and power. Now, they looked like a pair of deities, capable of flipping the world upside down with a single thought if they wanted.

"Fuck it!" Niara shot forward, once again taken over by a peculiar feeling.

She had always adored and imagined what the Divine Dragon would be like, just like all the Mannaz with their Bloodline in this universe. But now that she'd seen it for real... she didn't understand why she felt an almost visceral urge to destroy it completely. It wasn't hatred toward corruption; it was something much deeper.

The two figures focused on each other again.

Both emitted an intense draconic power, as if they were mirrors of one another. One side radiated a vile corruption, the other, a pulsating light full of life.

**BANG!**

But this time, Niara, with a single punch, made that body fly back several meters in the sky, twisting.

Darian opened his eyes, then nodded, taking advantage of the opportunity created.

All the white power around him moved toward the Corrupted Dragon. But this time, it wasn't trying to just stop it from using corruption properly. All the white power merged, forming small runes that connected into a powerful runic formation.

Darian had never done this before, because this would burn his power completely in one go. If he didn't win with that, it would be his end.

But now, everything came together in a final movement, and the power of those runes could actually purify the corruption of someone at that level.

"MAY YOU JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY!" Niara roared, attacking furiously.

With the corrupt power completely disrupted by Darian, the only thing left for the Corrupted Dragon was the Bloodline. But even that was totally suppressed by Niara.

It wasn't a matter of raw power. Darian and Niara weren't even close to having what was needed to directly beat something of that level. But without corruption and Bloodline, that undead thing was like a beast that had lost its fangs and claws.

In theory, it would still have plenty of other things to use... if it were someone alive, with intelligence and instincts to fight. But that wasn't the enemy standing in front of them.

'Near the neck, that's where the Celestial Shadow's mark is.' Darian said quickly to Niara.

She heard him and struck exactly at that point.

**BOOOOM!!**

A shocking, explosive sound echoed like thunder through the whole place. Right after, the ground shook and split open as a massive weight crashed down on it.

It was over.

Camille and everyone else watching were completely silent, their eyes wide. They... really managed to defeat that Beast, the same creature that not even thousands of people with nine rings together had the slightest chance against.

Darian kept a serious expression; the second big Boss had been defeated. Now... only the Final Boss remained.

He vanished, reappearing on the ground and waving his hand to store that completely lifeless body in his inventory. Since it had been turned into a kind of undead, its physical structure had stabilized and could be used for other things in the future.

Niara had no idea about the truth, but that had once been her body. So it had an almost impossible level of compatibility with her. Even though she was now half human, that body would still connect perfectly with her.

*BUZZ!!*

That entire small world began to shake. At its far end, they all saw a place completely sealed by corruption split open. The final enemy had been there the whole time, with its true body.

After the Celestial Shadow sensed that Enfield had been killed, he awakened the Divine Dragon's body, hoping it would be enough to repel the intruders. After all, he was in the middle of absorbing the power of the last two primordial hearts: the primordial essence and the material essence.

Darian knew it well from Enfield's memories. The Celestial Shadow didn't want to come out and fight, because his wounds were caused in such a way that, unless he was 100% recovered, using his power would cause a backlash and could undo the progress he had healed with great effort.

But... now he had no choice.

The world became covered in a dense corruption that swallowed all light.

You couldn't even call it miasma anymore — it was so dense that everyone with nine rings had to burn their energies to protect the Heavenly Elemental Spirits and the Mannaz. And even then, they felt pushed to their limit.

Silence.

Suddenly...

...a pair of gigantic red eyes appeared in the middle of the darkness.

Then, the Celestial Shadow didn't simply show up — he *burst* out of the darkness, with a mass so massive it made the air vibrate.

His size was just as colossal as the Divine Dragon's. He wasn't a beast with paws or wings; he had a serpentine form, with the long, curved body of a naga or an eastern dragon. His scales were black and purple, each one the size of a shield, coming together to form an impenetrable armor that seemed to swallow all light.

On his head, his neck widened into a kind of feathered or membranous hood, similar to a king cobra's, but made of black scales.

Darian snorted. The Celestial Shadow was, in truth, like an Apophis from Earth's legends. He hadn't used that name in a very long time, ever since he created his corruption.

That Primordial Beast lifted its gigantic head, slow and inevitable. There was no roar — only the dry hiss of millions of scales scraping... a sound that promised the end of all existence.