Chapter 257: No Other Choice
Darian used a spatial artifact right there where they stood. In an instant, they were all back at the academy, still visibly shaken and confused.
Wasting no time, Darian demanded a full explanation from Howlyn. She nodded, focusing:
"I was already a Risen when this galaxy we’re in was taken. I didn’t take part in the battle directly because I was too weak, but I learned what happened afterward. The old Divine Dragon Academy, once they realized they were about to be destroyed, used everything they had to try and wipe out what they considered their most valuable asset..."
Darian already knew parts of this story, from the academy’s point of view. He had read about it in the old Leader’s room. But the story had been messy and full of missing pieces. So Howlyn explained it all to them in more detail.
Back then, in the center of the galaxy, there was a unique planet called the Planet of Life. Life flourished there naturally, and every inch of the place was like a treasure. Countless nature-born races and Divine Beasts lived on the planet... all because the World Tree had been born there and remained rooted in its soil.
Darian narrowed his eyes — he hadn’t heard anything about this World Tree before.
In the final battle, the Divine Dragon Academy used all their strength to stop the Risen from absorbing the place and becoming even more powerful. The entire planet was destroyed, but... they failed.
A Risen Lord sacrificed himself to preserve the place. Or rather, a part of it. That Risen Lord sealed a quarter of the planet inside a separate space. Along with it, the World Tree and a lot of other things were preserved.
Still, the power that Risen Lord used — plus the destruction caused by the academy — turned the entire surrounding space into a chaotic, unstable mess. The combined powers pushed spatial chaos to the level of a calamity, something regular mortals couldn’t possibly deal with.
Where the planet used to be, there was now nothing but a swirling vortex of spatial energy — and inside, what would come to be known as the World of Life.
After three thousand years, that chaotic space finally started to stabilize just a little, forming a sort of "spatial channel" leading into it.
People realized this channel would last for around two months before breaking apart — so it was temporary. But the spatial calamity followed a cycle, so over time, it would reopen.