The first thing Darian did when he returned was call everyone from the old Azure Haven Clan for a private meeting.

However, he remembered only now that Leander and Rhea were still sleeping, along with Nayara. They had returned from the other universe in less than five days… even though a little over four years had passed in that place.

So, Darian stopped by the World Tree and healed them completely. They had already recovered more than half on their own, so speeding up the process a bit wouldn't cause any problems.

When Leander woke up, Rhea was already back as well.

Lucy and Lucius, who were beside Darian, had their faces full of tears; they had carried the pain of having failed to protect the clan for a long time. Now, officially, everything had returned to the way it was when Darian left.

"Take good care of him this time..." Niara whispered softly to Lucy, who was a bit surprised to hear that, but nodded slightly.

Nayara woke up too and was brought to the meeting room. Inside, everyone explained to the newcomers what happened during that fight and everything that came after, up to the present moment.

Nayara found out that her clan was almost destroyed, but thankfully, after Lucius negotiated his Bow with the attackers, they released her and left, preventing complete destruction. That's why the Amazon Sentinels still existed, even if very weakened. But that Empire was now an enemy, and she wouldn't be able to return anytime soon.

After the initial explanations, Darian looked at everyone, then took that egg out of the inventory again.

They all stared at it with confused expressions. He quickly told them about the Draconic Trial and how he managed to fully restore that body and bring it back. Niara had used it to the limit, making excellent use of it. But now, that body had been reborn from zero and was completely healed.

"Oliver... your wish was finally fulfilled..." Rhea murmured what everyone was thinking.

But unfortunately, those who had been with Darian in the other universe knew that Oliver's partner, Lanalia, died during those lost thousand years. If not for that absurdly cruel fate, the mother could have recovered her daughter completely healed.

"Since she has no one, we'll all take care of her together." Niara said excitedly, holding the egg.

Everyone turned to Niara and to the egg, nodding. That had been the clan's and Oliver's original plan: to take care of the child in the mother's place. A lot had happened, but they were returning to the original idea.

Darian saw everyone accepting it excitedly, so he nodded and removed the seal from the egg. "A soul will be connected soon... it must be close to hatching."

After that, everyone understood and started discussing the name and everything else, very enthusiastically. Niara was in the middle of them, next to Lucy, Lucius, Eleri, Awel, and Tir; all having fun and giving their opinions.

Niara ended up developing a very strong connection with the person who was about to be born, since she had used that body for more than ten years. And those three were quickly accepted by Niara and Lucy as family members; everyone was integrating into Darian's closest group quickly.

Darian just watched silently for a few minutes. But he couldn't help noticing... Lucius was quieter and more thoughtful than usual. He was with Veyle, and both seemed to be hiding an uneasiness, even though they pretended to be normal.

It was no wonder: Lucius' future had been completely thrown into uncertainty... just like that of countless other Spiritual Guardians of the universe. Their Summoners had died, and now they could no longer return to that universe, much less rise in rings again.

Even so, it was far better than having died with their Summoners in the other universe. In that case, the Spiritual Guardian would lose all powers and memories, returning to their universe with nothing. So people like Lucius could still consider themselves Spiritual Guardians.

Of course, Darian could take Lucius back, but he probably couldn't solve the problem of him no longer accumulating Merit Power. In theory, his younger brother would remain forever with seven rings.

Even Lucy, during the last adventure, had already advanced to eight rings and surpassed him. The frustration Lucius must be feeling was immense; it seemed unbelievably unfair, after so much effort and dedication, to now simply be unable to get stronger anymore.

Darian took a deep breath, then moved away, ready to try some things. After he closed the door and took only a few steps, it quickly opened again, and a little girl came running to his side.

"Master is going to try creating something interesting, right? I can help."

Darian turned toward Awel, whose eyes were shining with excitement. She held his hand and walked calmly beside him.

He nodded. He always shared complex ideas and thoughts with her whenever he had time. She listened to everything, always with an overly excited expression, as if everything was amazing. And the worst part... she actually helped, giving opinions on things he had explained to her in the past, but he never imagined could be useful.

Awel remembered everything — every word he had ever told her — and she was extremely curious, always trying to learn as much as possible. Definitely, she was an excellent disciple and helper.

They entered a room, and then Darian explained his plans.

"I feel that now, I have the ability to drastically improve my Spiritual Technique. And also, I think it's the key to helping my brother and others in similar conditions..."

When Darian created the first version of the spiritual technique Shadow Tamer, he only had very few resources and the knowledge he had learned from his Master Meru. He himself had basically no experience or any additional knowledge.

But now, everything was different. He had lived through a lot and studied countless subjects.

"I get it. Master told me before that he planned to unify his Necromancer abilities with the new capability of his curse. But I'm sure that the foundation of what a Heavenly Elemental Spirit is can also be useful..."

Awel began explaining her opinion. She intended to use her experience to create a new physical manifestation for the Heroic Shadows, based on the Heavenly Elemental Spirits.

Darian listened and got excited. He couldn't do something like that on his own, but Awel could, since she had once belonged to that race and understood it much better.

So the two of them joined forces and started working on the new version of the technique.

Darian added absolutely everything he had learned over the years, but the main thing was that now he could use his white and black power together; which gave him lots of ideas. His Spiritual Technique was based on his curse, so this new capability brought many possibilities.

The two spent days and nights perfecting the ideas.

Darian had no idea how many days he had stayed there. He only knew it had been weeks, because Niara would enter the room and drag him out by force so he could rest. He would then dedicate the day to stay by her side, while Awel stayed with Tir and Eleri, getting to know every place they could explore. But afterward, they would go back to work.

Until, one fine day...

"Dan! It's time!"

Niara burst into the room, shouting excitedly.

Darian swallowed hard as he understood. The egg was finally going to hatch. He had heard from Niara that the soul had already been connected for some time, and now the moment had come.

They rushed to the central hall.

Everyone from the old Azure Haven clan was there, gathered around an egg big enough to fit a human baby inside. The egg was cracked and trembling slightly.

When Darian arrived, everyone looked excited. Then they began removing the eggshell gently. After all, what was inside wasn't a beast or a bird that would instinctively be able to get out on its own.

Inside, there was a half-human with Draconic blood, who had undergone strong atavism, causing them to be generated inside an egg, like Dragons.

In the past, when only the body was born, because of the atavism, the baby had a full bestial body with no human traits at all. Niara even needed to use metamorphosis to feel better when next to Darian.

But now... after the will of the Yin Chaos Dragon had restored, improved, and healed everything; the Bloodline, the illness, or any other problem had been completely controlled in this body.

Then, from inside the egg, Harper pulled out a baby with pale skin and almost human. It was obviously a girl, but she had the physical characteristics of a Mannaz with dragon blood, just like Niara.

She had a tail, a small pair of wings, two tiny horns just above her ears, and scales only on her legs; all in a violet tone.

The moment the little one saw the light of the world, a sharp cry echoed.

Harper then touched her forehead, sensing her internal condition, becoming more and more relieved. There wasn't any trace, not even the slightest, of the old illness or any other problem — she was incredibly healthy.

But...

Everyone quickly noticed something wrong and turned to Darian.

He was completely frozen, staring at the newborn fixedly, his heart racing.

"Bro?" Lucy asked, but there was clearly something off in her voice.

Darian didn't react.

Lucy turned to Lucius. He also had a strange look, and didn't know what was happening...

...the three of them instinctively felt something very abnormal and wrong the moment they saw that baby.

Then, they focused on Darian and saw a subtle glow appear in his eyes.