Even though her expression didn't change, those beautiful amber eyes lit up when she heard those words. Then, Darian calmly muttered, revealing exactly what that elf's Blessing was.
When Niara heard it, she didn't know whether to be shocked by the Blessing itself or to wonder how the hell Darian had figured it out.
Even though he didn't know the exact name, he'd seen how it worked in detail and was sure about what it did. It had been easy to figure out, because there was one huge flaw the elf couldn't hide from his allies.
In the vision of the past, they had all fought and killed other Summoners while working around that flaw. They even mentioned a few things that made it all even more obvious.
Basically, the guy had an incredible power that was straight-up god-tier. You could even call him the "God of Initiative."
Every time he attacked a target for the first time, space itself twisted, and the laws of the universe would magically guide his shot straight to the target — no matter the distance.
As long as he knew exactly who he wanted to shoot and where they were headed, the attack would always land in the target's blind spot.
Of course, the farther away, the more energy it used. So yeah, there was a limit — or else he could snipe someone from another galaxy. But if the distance was under a hundred meters, he could fire without even seeing the target and still not burn too much energy.
Any attacks after the first one were normal — and after using the Blessing, he got way weaker than usual for a while, as a kind of backlash. It only worked on the first hit per target, and he could never use it again on the same person.
Smartly, he used a bow. Whenever his Blessing hit, the arrow would always be coated in some kind of deadly poison. Even if it didn't kill on the spot, the venom would weaken the target so much they'd basically be finished.
He also used cursed metals for his arrows, like the one he used on Niara. That was definitely a divine-level Blessing for assassinations.
Even with just two rings, he could take out someone way stronger with ease. He'd poison them, and his allies would finish the job.
Niara took a deep breath.
He hadn't used poison on her because he figured it would be a waste. Just the arrow's metal was terrifying enough. As for why he wanted to kill them, that was still a mystery.
It was easy to guess that after the shot, he just assumed there was no way Niara could've survived — and no one had bothered to check. Besides, he couldn't use his Blessing on her again.
"What do you wanna do?" she asked, totally ready for whatever insane plan he had.
Darian nodded, then turned his attention back to the battle ahead. A second later, he spotted something that made him grin with excitement.
That powerful Risen Chief had already been poisoned by the elf and would be going down real soon.
The elf was sitting way back, under protection. Up front, there was a shadowy figure calmly waiting. But the ones actually holding the front line were two people.
They were the tanks — made to hold the line. A Summoner and her partner, both covered in what looked like armor made of diamond.
Niara recognized it and explained to Darian: that Blessing was pretty well-known and everyone knew its name — *Precious Fortress*.
The name said it all. It was made purely for defense. It was tougher than earth itself, but didn't come with all the extra tricks the earth element usually had. It was considered a mid-tier Blessing, but insanely effective at what it did.
Blessings didn't always have to be crazy broken like that elf sniper's. Sometimes, simple and efficient was the better choice.
In this case, it was great because the Summoner could wear the armor too. That made it even safer, since defense was its biggest strength.
'Those two are gonna be the real pain...' Darian focused, running through the possibilities for a few seconds.
Then, he turned to Niara and said, "Let's go dig up some treasures... then mess with a lion's tail."
***
Minutes went by.
*BANG! BANG! BANG!*
The tank and her Summoner, both covered in shining armor, were under attack and slowly getting pushed back — but they were still holding on.
Their attacker was a Risen Chief over three meters tall, insanely dense and powerful, like a hellish ogre swinging a massive warhammer in a wild frenzy.
Each hit felt stronger than the last. The enemy was burning through his last reserves of strength, which was why the tanks were retreating. It was almost over...
Until the Summoner sensed something.
She quickly turned her head and saw something tiny and round coming from far away, heading straight toward them.
"What the—?"
*Booom!*
A small explosion went off really close to them. It didn't have any destructive force and didn't cause any damage, but...
A wave of pitch-black miasma, impossibly thick, spread out in all directions.
And it kept spreading... and spreading.
*Booom! Booom! Booom!*
More explosions followed, one after another.
High up in the sky, several meters away, Niara flapped her wings with everything she had.
A gust of strong wind formed in front of her. A little slug, hidden in her clothes, removed the white seal and launched a black pill forward.
Then another.
And another.
*Booom! Booom! Booom!*
It didn't stop. It all happened super fast — dozens of blasts echoing out in under ten seconds. And then, silence...
**RYAAARGH!!**
A thunderous roar, like it came from some apocalyptic beast, erupted. The sound alone made everything shake.
"We're fucked..."
The two tanks froze in place, tense as hell.
The roar came from their enemy. As for the area they'd been fighting in...
Suddenly, the miasma multiplied over tenfold — and that instantly boosted the Risen Chief's power. What had been nearly burned out just a second ago was now fully recharged, and way past normal levels.
The two tanks and the other two who'd been hiding were totally locked in on the enemy — they didn't see Niara appear. The only ones who did were the elf-like Spiritual Guardian and his Summoner in the back. But they couldn't do anything except watch.
"Go all in!" a high-pitched voice shouted from behind. It was the elf's Summoner. "That damn Dragoness! We have to capture her now — she's gotta be working with another Risen Lord!"
**KBOOM!**
Right away, both tanks were blasted back several meters, crashing into the ground and rolling hard, tearing a massive trench in the process.
They got back up quickly, their glorious defenses almost completely wrecked.
Hold him off? They'd be lucky just to survive.
As for the Risen Chief... a demonic grin spread across his face.
All the extra miasma rushed toward him, and he absorbed it in one go.
That other Summoner — the shadowy one — and his partner appeared. They exchanged looks with the tanks. Both Summoners tightened their grip on their weapons. They had one last option left.
They hadn't wanted to use it — it was one-time-only. They only even learned it existed after spending two-thirds of their resources on their weapons... but now it would save their lives.
The blades pulsed.
Then, all the metal lit up in pure white.
*Slash!*
With a single strike, the miasma was effortlessly cut in half.