Nikolai took a few seconds to return to his usual self. Everyone in the VIP room was watching him, surprised and curious — especially the emperors who had a deeper understanding of those armors.

What Darian had just done was flat-out impossible.

Everyone knew how insane the defensive power of those armors was, and the empires had tried everything to figure out if there was any flaw.

In the end, nothing's perfect. It didn't take long for people to realize that the technique first created something called an "artificial soul gem." That was the core of the armor, and when it was fed with power from the user's ring, it made everything possible.

Even though it was a weak spot, everyone had agreed it was impossible to exploit. That's because there was no noticeable fluctuation in the armor where the core was — it looked just like the rest. On top of that, each person placed the core in a different spot and could move it around mid-fight with just a thought, thanks to the living nature of the armor.

But Darian... everyone saw it — he pinpointed that weak spot and hit it dead-on, shattering it. That couldn't have been a coincidence.

And yeah, it wasn't. Darian did it because he recognized where that technique came from.

In that book, the main character had traveled to a universe where technology and power coexisted. That place had created living robots, and the protagonist ended up forming strong bonds there, even taking on a disciple.

Long story short, after a while, that disciple and someone else from that universe came back to help him in the final war. And the tech from that place was described in detail in the book.

The moment Darian used the rings on his hands, he was sure of it. He felt the exact same type of tech described in the book — a core powered by the soul. He could sense that core perfectly... and hit it without missing.

Back in the VIP room, Emperor Blaine stayed quiet, but his eyes were gleaming with hidden excitement. Darian — someone from his empire — had just figured out something nobody else ever had. At some point, this would be shared with him, and it opened a door for his empire to possibly rise to second place on Earth.

Meanwhile, on the stage, Amara walked up to Darian with a warm smile.

As she got close... she noticed the sharp, pissed-off glare coming from Niara. Amara stopped and chuckled lightly. Suddenly, a message popped into Niara's mind.

Right after hearing it, her expression completely changed.

'Shit, Dan! She's your relative?! Why the hell didn't you tell me?!' Niara said mentally, clearly mad.

Darian got flustered and confused: 'I wasn't completely sure. I was gonna tell you eventually... Why are you so angry though?'

Niara let out a long sigh. 'You idiot. You owe me for this.'

Darian swallowed hard. Now he was even more confused… and kinda scared.

…

"The winner is the New Arcadia Empire!" the judge's voice boomed.

The whole arena erupted in cheers. This fight hadn't been super bloody or brutal, but it was high-level as hell and insanely entertaining. No one was disappointed.

"And that wraps up Day Two! Tomorrow, we'll have the grand final between Group 1 of the Solar Federation Empire and Group 2 of the New Arcadia Empire!"

With that announcement, Darian finally left the stage alongside the people from the Polar Circle Empire.

Amara didn't waste time. Darian tried to pull away, but she followed right behind him, along with a guy and another girl from her group. At the door to the courtyard, Darian glanced back at her and gestured for them to come in.

He took them to the recovery hall. As soon as they stepped inside, Darian was surprised to see Lucy and Lucius awake. Up until then, the four of them had still been unconscious, and he'd been spending his nights checking on them and staying by their side.

Silas was the only one who hadn't shown any signs of improvement. But the other three were recovering quickly. Thanks to the twins' blessing, they'd woken up a bit faster. Even so, they were still just barely awake and physically weak.

Niara immediately zipped over and wedged herself between the two of them. A muffled little growl came out. Lucy gently held her, while Lucius stroked her head, trying to calm her down.

"It's okay, don't cry..."

Niara was shaking, unwilling to leave their side. Darian quickly moved over and started checking the twins with maximum focus.

Amara and the others quietly watched, sensing the deep bond among them. Only now did they truly understand why Darian had seemed so pissed off and off-balance over the past few days. He barely looked at anyone, and after fighting, he would stay by himself with his eyes shut. His aura had been total chaos.

"What... happened?" Amara asked, walking up slowly, a bit hesitant.

The twins looked over at her...

"!"

"What the hell?!"

Their reaction was perfectly in sync — exactly like Darian's had been. That made Amara and the other two burst into laughter.

Darian let out a soft sigh and turned to her. The two shared a silent look, and then Amara understood. With a quick motion, she pulled an artifact from her inventory. It was black, with intense golden markings.

She activated it, and a subtle mist spread through the entire recovery hall.

"Done. I guarantee every surveillance in this place is down for a few minutes."

She spoke quietly. The capital wasn't just any place, and using artifacts to block the eyes was obviously forbidden. If anyone tried, alarms would go off and countless military officers would show up in seconds. But what she used was insanely rare and expensive, a one-time-use item that couldn't be detected by the capital's system.

Darian turned to her and then to the two standing behind.

"You first. Who are they?"

Amara introduced them. "This is Aveline, and this is Emeric. They're my cousins and, technically… yours too, right?"

Lucy and Lucius widened their eyes.

Darian nodded and sighed. "I guess so. Our mother… we don't even know her real name. We can't confirm or deny anything. Just… you look scarily like her."

Amara heard that and smiled brightly.

"Then that confirms everything. My mom always said I looked more like my aunt than her. She showed me some old pictures, and yeah... I get why you guys are so shocked."

The three of them listened, eyes full of hope.

"Auntie… her name was Cirene Rorik," Amara said softly, looking them in the eyes. "She was considered the most talented child born into the family. But fate was cruel to her. Time went on, and she just never awakened..."

Basically, everyone in the family could choose whether to train and try to become a Spiritual Guardian. It was similar to joining the military in the empires — doing that increased your chances of awakening, and if it happened, you'd grow stronger faster and easier.

In the Rorik family, no one was forced, and many just trained a bit and gave up. But Cirene was different — from the very start, she showed insane talent.

Unfortunately, once the golden period for awakening passed — which was before turning fifteen — it was clear she wasn't fated for it. It was a huge loss for everyone.

But... it was during her lowest, most painful moment that everything changed. The family had a major meeting with the Wube family. Everyone attended, and that's when she met Darius for the first time.

Everything happened super fast, and obviously no one had details. Three years later, they were getting married. And before she turned twenty, she was already pregnant with her first child.

Then she had a pair of twins and lived happily, truly believing fate had been kind to her.

Until one random day. That's when suddenly, the whole family received her last message: "Thank you for everything. I need to protect my children."

Amara finished, her voice full of pain. "Everyone in the family did everything they could to find her... but we never got a single clue about where she went. It became clear she wasn't in our empire anymore, and it was impossible to run a proper search outside..."

Lucy and Lucius looked shaken.

Darian exhaled heavily... now it was his turn to talk, which wasn't easy.

He told them everything he knew about his mom, including details the twins didn't even know. He spoke about how she died, who did it, and that he'd already gotten revenge. Then, he shared what he saw in Mallory's past.

"How could she do that?!" Emeric couldn't hold back and shouted, furious.

Amara's face twisted in anger, but she clenched her fists tightly and stared Darian straight in the eyes.

He confirmed, "Yeah. Vanh is her son. And he's the one who got my father's spiritual root."

Lucy and Lucius were stunned, and then he asked Amara for more details. She explained about the variant spiritual roots that all those who underwent an ancestral awakening carried. That's why the empires never revealed those people — to protect them.

Even if some scary prodigies showed up and raised suspicions, without confirmation, demons from other planets would rarely make a move on Earth or try anything big. After all, it was completely forbidden and condemned across the universe. If any empire found proof, they wouldn't have trouble rallying allies to hit back hard.

After that explanation, Darian told them what happened before the tournament began. He just left out the reason why the twins and Veyle weren't so injured — only Silas was. But he did say who was behind it, in detail.

Amara and the other two were even more furious. That family was targeting Darian and the twins just because he wouldn't sacrifice himself to die for the demons? What kind of twisted logic was that?

"Cousins, don't worry. Now that we found each other, my dad will do everything he can to help you. You're family. After this is over, we'll all meet up," Amara said seriously.

"Your dad?" Darian asked.

She nodded.

"Yeah, my father's name is Nikolai Rorik. He's the emperor."

Darian's expression lit up. He had guessed the emperor of the New Arcadia Empire had helped him earlier, but he didn't know how he managed to pull that off alone. Turns out, he had another emperor on his side.

"My dad told me what happened before... Actually, you've got a lot of allies," she said, her eyes shining. "Two other empires are backing you. That makes four. You've got the majority. And in this tournament, everything that happens will be judged and voted on by all six. So... don't worry about what happens tomorrow..."

The two exchanged looks. Darian nodded, and his red eyes gleamed.

"That's really good to know."

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