Damned Healer-Chapter 456: Ambush

"Sir, my race eagerly awaits your visit," Aurix said, bowing to Darian.

"I’m pretty busy. I have to go back home and get things in order there. After that, I need to upgrade my rings as fast as possible," Darian said calmly. "I won’t be able to visit your place anytime soon, but that won’t be a problem. You two — gather all your Spiritual Guardians and send them together to the Divine Protection Universe. You know that second galaxy and academy you heard about? That’s mine. I’ll take care of everyone from the other side."

As Darian spoke, Painita sighed, confirming her suspicions, while Aurix looked a bit shocked.

When they became immortals, both had lost the ability to return to that universe, but they’d lived there long enough to know just how harsh and hopeless that place was.

No one had ever managed to reclaim territory there — yet this missionary had, even though he was still very weak. That made both of them swallow hard, confirming just how much of a freak anomaly a missionary really was.

After speaking, the void opened, and Caliris returned, holding a human head in her hands.

"Sir, I killed everyone and read their memories. The head of the family is on Earth with his wife and son. Something happened — all of the family’s most powerful and influential members, along with their greatest treasures, were taken from this planet not long ago. That’s why these ones didn’t have anything important."

Darian nodded. He hadn’t expected to get that lucky finding those three there, but he had hoped to at least get something useful.

"Alright..." Darian gave Caliris the same order he’d given the other two — to send their people to the Academy in the other universe.

Before that, Darian had ordered them to clean up their races — among the Demons and the Charming Eyes Race. But pulling that off perfectly was impossible. So to wipe out any possible spies, he’d personally check everyone’s karma in the other universe.

Suddenly, Darian stopped, feeling something.

"Niara, you’re awake... good timing. I’m heading back home," Darian murmured, turning to Painita. She nodded in understanding and opened up space ahead, creating a channel.

Darian stepped through quickly and vanished. Then Painita turned to the princes and princesses of her planet, looking at them with pride.

"Good work. Since you’re all here, start working on our new territory. Investigate everything and everyone; I’ll send people to help." She said, then disappeared.

---

When Darian appeared on the other side, he found himself floating in empty space. Instantly, he felt a massive wave of deathly Yin energy. Looking around, he saw a vast region covered in blood and death.

He nodded, spotting Emperor Morion in the distance — staring straight at him, but with a completely different look than before.

Painita also appeared and rushed toward her people to assess the situation and issue new orders.

"BRO!!!"

Suddenly, Darian heard a sharp scream and turned around.

*Bang*

In an instant, a black beam struck him hard in the chest, knocking the air out of him. Then... warmth spread through his body.

A wave of emotions crashed into him, making his breathing shake. Looking down at his chest, he saw his little sister hugging him tightly, trembling as she poured out all the longing she’d held in.

"Bro..." At the same time, a young man walked up to him, tears streaming down his face.

Darian took a deep breath, stroking Lucy’s head as she cried, while looking at Lucius. It had been ten long years — years he’d thought about them almost every day.

When he’d left, they were still teenagers, already carrying heavy responsibilities. Back then, Darian himself was just a cowardly recluse hiding from the world.

Now... staring into Lucius’s eyes, he saw a new kind of maturity that hadn’t been there before.

"You two haven’t changed much..." Darian murmured, his voice full of emotion.

He sensed the seven rings on both of them. They were on par with the princes and princesses of Vadise — but Darian knew their true power was like heaven and earth compared to his.

Lucy slowly let go of him, standing in front of him with her face wet from tears. "I did change — but only just enough."

He smiled faintly. She was right — his little sister was now a grown woman, mentally and physically, though still small. Physically, they both looked about eighteen — still very young.

That was because of the Wood power in their bodies. Camille, their great-grandmother, also looked eternally around twenty. The two of them, carrying the same power, had learned from her how to freeze their appearance once they felt mature enough.

"Sorry it took me so long... I had a lot of problems to deal with..." Darian murmured, barely able to control his emotions.

The two of them took a deep breath, looking radiant from the reunion.

"The important thing is you’re back. Ten years isn’t much for us now..." Lucius murmured with a smile.

Lucy reached for Darian, pulled his hood off, and stared at him up close.

"Bro looks... really different..." she murmured with a small smile. "Niara’s gonna like this... and she’ll get worried too. You’re way stronger and hotter. You’ve got this flashy glow and an imposing aura now."

Darian felt something stir inside him. Niara, who was there, grew restless and curious to see him, but she was only a soul now and couldn’t leave or speak to them.

Darian sighed. "It’s over. Niara’s with me now — we have to go home and then put her back in her true body."

"Brother, about that... things changed a bit while you were gone." Lucius swallowed and spoke seriously.

Darian looked them in the eyes. "I found the bow that should’ve belonged to Nayara. I already took it back, but what happened?"

"That damned Emperor..." Lucy murmured, clenching her fists. "Blaine — he teamed up with the Wube family and set an ambush for our clan. Sorry, Bro, we promised we’d handle everything... but the clan was destroyed inside the Empire. I... I should’ve died that day."

Darian narrowed his eyes and felt a deep pain for Lucy — the kind he’d only felt when their mother died. He turned to Lucius.

Lucius breathed in. "It happened only a year ago. Earth’s a mess right now, and info from there is all mixed up. The Wube family did it on purpose so nobody would know what really happened..."

"We’d become the Empire’s biggest clan a few years earlier. Nayara, who was vice-leader of the Amazon Sentinels clan, became the leader officially, and they turned into the second-biggest clan. The idiots from Red River Pact tried every way to destroy us over the years, but with the ’Spiritual Technique’ in the 150 members your brother left, we always came out on top, and we had the Emperor’s protection, stopping the most powerful from harming us directly."

"But one day... they ambushed us cleverly. We got a distress signal from the Amazon Sentinels. Lucy, who was in the clan, ran to help... and found out Anbon gave up on the rules and decided to slaughter us before his own clan was wiped out. Blaine ignored it at first... then joined the Wube family, who provided Supreme Artifacts to make it perfect."

"Both clans were attacked at once. I, by luck or fate, was far away, south of the Empire, expanding the clan’s territory in secret. They didn’t know I was gone; that’s what saved us."

"I also got the secret distress call from Nayara, so I ran to the Amazon Sentinels with some allies. But there were many with nine rings, and I didn’t have enough power to save them. Luckily, I figured out their goal was to take Nayara’s bow, so I traded: I left the bow and took Nayara, who was almost dead."

"When I came back to join Lucy and try to save her... I saw the whole clan burning and sealed by artifacts. I triggered the secret rescue call." Lucius breathed, pained. "That let Camille and Nikolai save us at the last minute."

Darian breathed out. It had been close, and it wasn’t just luck they hadn’t been found out to be distant — it was fate, or karma. He was sure the clan had always done what was right, helping people and building karma that helped them in the end.

Lucy nodded, tears streaming. "Inside the clan... Anbon tried to kill us with everything... but me and the 150 with the Spiritual Technique weren’t easy to eliminate. He tried to break us psychologically and killed thousands trapped inside the clan. He massacred even one-ring members, laughing. I lost control and tried everything... but he planned it to leave me badly injured. There was a strange Supreme Artifact that blocked the healing from my blessing. Everything was set up meticulously so we had no chance of surviving. I only didn’t die because of the Wood power — it kept me by a thread. And... because Leander and Rhea sacrificed themselves for me..."

Darian’s eyes widened. "Both of them..."

"Not yet," Lucius finished. "Luckily, Camille arrived in time and sealed Leander’s life; she also felt a very weak soul still existing inside him."

"In the end, there was a huge battle in the capital. Blaine showed up alongside the Wube family to make sure we died. But thanks to Camille, Nikolai, and allies from their empires, they rescued us, only 500 survivors from the clan. We were taken to the Aeternum Atlantis Empire and now live there. Nayara and Leander were sealed into the World Tree, to die."

Lucy spoke, trembling with tears: "We had over ten thousand members... our clan took up a third of the capital... we’d earned more than one Supreme Artifact on merit. We cared for people and built several cities outside the capital where ordinary folks could live safely. But... they destroyed everything and killed countless clan members... all for greed."

"Alright..." Darian murmured, gently wiping Lucy’s tears. "They failed, so they’ll get what they deserve... and it’ll be much sooner than they think."