Darian took a deep breath, thinking. They were in the lower region of the second row — someone with just two rings wasn't supposed to be there. Even Vahnu, the female elder with three rings, was constantly in danger in this place.
That could only mean one thing… those three were the elite among the two rings, and they had some insane blessings that made them just as effective as those with three rings.
Niara was right — in terms of raw power, they probably weren't much stronger than Zaoh. But blessings were powers that bent reality, not just depending on ring power. Darian's own ability was a great example of that.
'We found three solid targets, but they're crazy powerful,' Darian muttered, then turned to Niara.
Their eyes lit up at the same time.
'Good, two rings isn't totally impossible. This is our best shot,' he said lightly, and she nodded with a challenging grin.
Pushing herself beyond her limits — that was the secret that got Niara this far. As for Darian, he'd sworn to never run away again and do whatever it took to get stronger. Without taking risks, he'd never achieve anything.
He sighed — it was good to have someone insane to go along with him. 'Let's get closer.'
She just moved in that direction immediately. Once they got close enough, Niara started moving really slowly, with extreme care.
Darian stayed focused on the fight ahead — until he noticed something weird about that powerful Risen Chief. He looked really weak — like he was on the verge of getting taken down. But the people fighting him were also heavily injured.
It was already obvious now: the traitors were really trying to kill the Risen inside this Abyssal Nest — at least until the right moment. If they weren't actually fighting for real, then even the traitors could end up dying by accident before their plan played out.
Why risk it? Couldn't they just use the power of that Abyssal Heart fragment to help?
From what Niara had told him, the Risen Lords were the most powerful figures among the Risen, and there were records of several of them. Darian snorted… where there was a lot of power involved, there were always conflicts and fights for more.
For sure, the Risen Lords weren't exactly united. The one Ceug had allied with… maybe he couldn't leave any traces of what really happened here. Maybe pulling out a piece and using the Abyssal Heart inside the Nest would alert the others. Maybe it was dangerous or would go wrong if done the wrong way.
It was all just a bunch of maybes. But if any of it was true…
'We might be able to use this… perfect…' Darian muttered excitedly, a bold plan forming in his mind. 'Yeah, but that still doesn't solve anything. How the hell are we gonna beat three of them? Just one would be a massive problem…'
He was thinking that when Niara stopped walking.
They were close now — too close to go any further. They were at just the right distance to watch the fight, but still far enough that the ones up ahead wouldn't notice them as long as they stayed focused on the battle.
Then…
Darian clearly saw, a bit farther away, two hidden figures watching the enemy Risen's every move.
One of them was a male Mannaz, from the Canine tribe. Next to him was a small humanoid figure, barely a meter tall — like a mini elf out of some Earth fairy tale. He was thin, had pale skin, and pointed ears. From his size, he could be mistaken for a child, but his eyes and aura were dark as hell, showing his real nature.
That elf was a Spiritual Guardian.
He was holding a bow…
With black arrows…
"!"
Niara was sure the moment she saw those arrows. He was the one who attacked them earlier.
'I thought it came from farther away… because I only felt a faint killing intent from a distance. He definitely didn't move physically to sneak up on us. If he had, Vahnu and I would've sensed it,' she said mentally.
Darian took a deep breath. So he'd attacked from way off — all the way from the second row? And still managed to hit them from behind, even though Niara's back had been to the fourth row?
Was that the result of his blessing? Why did he attack them?
Too many questions with no answers.
But Darian was already sure of one thing.
In this universe, everyone had to be twice as careful. The Risen were dangerous, sure — but the other Spiritual Guardians were even worse.
Blessings could be super weird or super simple. In the beginning, when a Spiritual Guardian was still weak, their blessing could be easily identified when used — just check the library.
The stuff in the library was a solid foundation, where everyone started building their power. But once they had multiple rings, blessings might evolve into something totally different from the original — or not. That depended entirely on the user's talent and capability.
In short, the strongest ones definitely hid the full extent and variations of their blessings. Even the ones who didn't manage to change anything still pretended they had, just to intimidate others.
So, knowing exactly what someone's blessing was and what it actually did — that was vital info and really hard to get.
Once you knew what the other guy's power could do, everything changed. Darian had learned that from that book. Enough knowledge and preparation could completely flip the game.
'Wait!'
Darian shivered. He had definitely taken too long to realize and do the obvious.
If he could see Ceug's recent past because Ceug was a powerful traitor who'd done a lot… then this elf, being his ally and probably just as cruel, should be the same.
If the elf was hiding right now during the fight, it meant he was the type built for attacking, not defending. Every time he attacked, he had to go all in — otherwise it'd be risky. So… he had for sure done awful stuff and killed a lot of people with his blessing.
And Darian… well, he had the perfect cheat to deal with awful people.
He just focused on the elf...
...
Three minutes later, he snapped back to reality.
Then he looked up — and his eyes met Niara's, who was staring at him, full of anticipation.
'I think I've got an idea...'