Damned Healer-Chapter 458: Alike In Many Ways

It was early evening when Darian, Lucy, and Lucius moved through the forest until they crossed a spatial barrier. Inside it, the world was completely green and pure, surrounded by the life energy brought by the World Tree.

After a few steps forward, a figure approached them with a gentle smile.

"Veyle, you’re still here? The party’s about to start," Lucius said, surprised.

She smiled shyly. "Uh... I didn’t know if you guys were really coming back home, so I just wanted to calm myself a bit by gathering herbs."

Darian looked a little confused by her words.

Then Lucy huffed, "Yeah, I didn’t tell you yet. Bro, Veyle’s living at our place now. These two idiots couldn’t admit their relationship, so I dragged her to our house by force."

Darian turned to Lucius and then to Veyle. She lowered her head, her face red, while Lucius just looked awkward.

"It’s been over five years already! They made it official two years later, and they still go several days without seeing each other... all they do is work and train. How is that even a couple?" Lucy said seriously.

Veyle slowly lifted her gaze, forcing herself to meet Darian’s eyes. "It’s just... Sir D—"

She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Lucy’s sharp glare.

"I mean, Big Brother Darian trusted me to become an alchemist. Besides... Lucius doesn’t want to get married before him. So, it’s better if we keep some distance..."

Lucy huffed again. "You two worry too much about stupid things. You should’ve enjoyed life while you could. No one knows what’s coming tomorrow, and dying with regrets must be the worst thing ever. I’m sure Bro and sister-in-law would love to arrive and find some nieces and nephews here."

"Lucy!" Lucius said seriously, watching Veyle go completely flustered. They hadn’t even come close to anything that deep yet.

Darian snorted softly. He actually agreed — he’d rather see his brother living fully than wasting time with meaningless restraints.

"Veyle," Darian said calmly, and she immediately lifted her head.

"You proved long ago that I made the right choice trusting you, so you don’t owe anyone anything." Seeing her shy expression, he sighed deeply. "Your mood and emotions affect your mental power and soul, which, in turn, influence your pills, right?"

She swallowed hard and nodded. Pills were made by the alchemist channeling mental and soul energy into their creation — any distraction or emotional interference could affect the result.

"Good. You’ve had plenty of time to study the basics and the intermediate levels. Now, you feel like your progress in alchemy’s gotten slow, right? Well, that’s because you’ve been running away. It’s time to train in another very important area... you need to deepen your understanding of yourself and find your joy and reason to live."

He spoke calmly, watching her eyes tremble in surprise.

"My brother can help you with that, right? Getting to know yourself and living the life you want will show you the right path. You’re both past the age of being so cautious or insecure. Anyway, I’m not forcing anything — but I promise that if you focus on that other side, your progress in alchemy will speed up several times over, just like when you first started."

"Y-yes!" she replied quickly, understanding what he meant. A strange, fiery excitement lit up inside her.

Lucy huffed. "Pfft... just don’t get too carried away, okay? Don’t go trying to make up for all the lost time in one go. My brother needs energy to live and lead the clan."

Veyle turned completely red again, lowered her head, and ran off, rushing past them and disappearing into the distance.

"..."

Lucius turned toward the direction she ran, not sure if he should scold Lucy or say anything at all.

"Go after her. I’ll finish up here quickly and head to the party. We’ll meet there," Darian said calmly, quietly amused.

’Why are you amused? That slowness runs in your whole damn family...’ Niara snapped in his mind.

Darian swallowed dryly and didn’t dare reply.

Lucius nodded and went after Veyle.

Then Darian sighed and walked on beside Lucy.

As they approached the World Tree, step by step, he noticed a strange silence.

After a few minutes, Niara murmured in his mind:

’Dan, are you seriously not noticing?’

Darian frowned. ’Noticing what?’

’For fuck’s sake! Your sister’s acting weird and super nervous.’

Darian got even more confused. ’Huh? Why would she be nervous?’

’Shit, you really haven’t changed at all...’ Niara didn’t even know what to say — just looking at Lucy was enough to tell something was off, ’Think a bit. Go back to the story she told about her clan’s destruction. Didn’t you feel like she was really, really shaken, like she’d lost something important herself?’

’Yeah, of course. Thousands of people from her clan died right in front of her, and she couldn’t do anything about it,’ Darian replied.

Niara rolled her eyes inwardly. ’Damn it, idiot! Would *you* be sad like that? Or would you want revenge — and the moment you talked about it, your bloodlust would flare up? Why do you think your sister’s any different from you? You two are more alike than you think.’

Darian thought for a second. ’Now that you mention it... I did feel anger and a thirst for revenge from her... but when she talked about Leander and Rhea’s sacrifice...’

’Exactly!’

Darian nodded. ’Rhea probably took care of her like a mother, same as she did with me. So she must’ve felt her near death and remembered our mom. Got it.’

’...Heavens! No, idiot! Do you really think she’d be acting like this if it was just that?!’ Niara snapped, losing her patience.

Darian narrowed his eyes again. ’What do you mean? Wait... you’re saying Lucy feels something more? Hold on, Lucy and Rhea...’

’Are you pretending to be stupid now, or are you really that slow? You know your sister better than I do, and you *know* she doesn’t swing that way,’ Niara said, clearly annoyed.

’If it’s not Rhea, then... she’s got feelings for Leander?’ Darian thought, surprised. Ever since their mother’s death, Lucy had become harsh and almost impossible for anyone outside the family to get close to.

’Finally... I don’t even think she’s sure about it herself, but after years of managing the clan together, they must’ve gotten close. When he almost died alongside your mother to save her, that probably awakened something in her.’

Darian nodded, understanding. Since Lucius was moving forward in his relationship and he’d soon be doing something "similar," Lucy must’ve felt a bit left behind. It was nice to see she’d grown in that sense too. Leander was serious and trustworthy — it’d be good to encourage that between them later on.

And so, they finally reached the roots of the World Tree.

Lucy nervously led him to one of the roots, where two figures seemed to be sleeping on top of it. Their faces were pale, almost like corpses.

Darian crouched down to examine Leander and Nayara. Both were injured beyond the physical — their souls were in terrible condition, and if not for the World Tree’s power keeping them alive, they would’ve died long ago.

He took out soul-infused materials and gently nourished them. Then, he activated his white power to heal the severe internal damage they’d suffered.

Within seconds, the expressions on their faces changed completely, looking much more alive now.

Darian sighed, looking at Lucy.

"They’ve been in a coma for a long time. Their mental energy is really weak, but they’ll recover slowly on their own. It’s better if they do it by themselves — that way, they’ll wake up like they’ve just had a long sleep, not suddenly, still remembering those awful last moments they went through. They should stay asleep for a while longer. By the time we come back from the training universe, they’ll probably be close to waking up."

She nodded, clenching her fists and holding back her emotions as best she could. Seeing that, Darian could only scoff. Yeah, they really were alike in many ways.

Then, the two calmly returned.

***

When they arrived at the celebration, Darian met Amara, who also hugged him tightly.

After that, he talked with all his relatives from both empires, making sure everything was fine. He also spoke with the people from the Celestial Order Empire, who over the years, had chosen to stand permanently by their side.

Ten years wasn’t much for a Spiritual Guardian. Everyone was happy about his return and shared their news.

By the end of it all, Darian approached Haruto, eyes gleaming.

"Your forge, in your empire — that’s the best place for you to work on everything, right?" Darian asked eagerly. Haruto nodded, already sensing something coming.

"Perfect. I’ll go back with you tomorrow. I’m gonna teach you something new and incredible I got — and I’ll need your craftsmanship in return."

Everyone from the Celestial Order Empire heard that, and their hearts skipped a beat.

Thanks to what Darian had taught Haruto, the entire Celestial Order Empire had been recognized as a place of supreme forgers in the universe. Now, they were getting way more requests from powerful planets than they could handle.

Emperor Tian Yu knew how to show gratitude and had fully allied himself with Camille and Nikolai after the events involving the clan in the New Arcadia Empire. He even officially announced he’d cut all ties with the Wube family.

So, after learning all that and seeing their karma, Darian was sure he could trust them.