Damned Healer-Chapter 469: Irreparable Loss
After Darian and Niara left the cave, Lucy ran toward them and said, "Bro, I managed to restore the transport runes connected to Celestia Academy. The moment I did, I felt the other side trying to link up and cross over."
Darian nodded. "Let them come, they’re the ones I called earlier."
Lucy ran to a corner among the ruins and started activating everything. She had already told him that, over the years, she’d studied inscriptions and arrays deeply. Endi, who was the expert in that field in this universe, had basically taught her everything he could. That’s why Lucy could handle stuff like this — or even more complex things, if given time to analyze them.
At that moment, Howlyn approached Darian, followed by a large group of hundreds of people. Among them were Summoners, Spiritual Guardians, and regular Mannaz.
At the front stood a Dragoness with wings and scales, holding a spear. She led a massive group of more than five hundred regular Mannaz, with only about a hundred of them carrying draconic bloodlines. All of them radiated the aura of powerful warriors.
Behind them, though, there was a smaller, more worn-out group. Darian sighed as he recognized Ruoku, Hyun, Yeon, and dozens of other familiar faces.
He looked at Howlyn, who nodded — those were all the survivors. Endi, the inscription expert, was dead — as were Lanalia and Rion, Lucius’s Summoner.
Darian saw High Elder Vahnu and all the young Mannaz he’d met back when he became a Spiritual Guardian, along with those who had turned into Risen and whom he himself had later purified. They had all survived and were now looking at him with deeply emotional expressions.
There were also Amara, Haruto, Barod, Udynes, and a large group of his clan members from Earth, along with their Summoners.
Out of the one hundred and fifty elites who possessed Heroic Shadows, all were there. But from the rest of the clan, only about one-third of their Summoners had survived.
In the end, even with the academy destroyed, all the training and systems Darian had left behind in that universe had allowed most of them to survive — though the losses were still severe.
He also noticed the grim, pained look on Veyle’s face. She already knew, through her Summoner, about Lucius’s Summoner’s death. Sadly, that was an irreparable loss — one that probably had no solution.
Darian also noticed that all the Spiritual Guardians with seven rings or more — the ones who were his allies — had changed their physical forms to look more like their true bodies. They had just added small differences, like Lucy’s wings.
It wasn’t a rule, but it seemed like the strongest ones preferred keeping an appearance close to their real bodies, since they were used to fighting that way. That’s why most tanks and Fighters with seven rings or more kept visuals similar to their originals.
"My Lord, we were all able to survive thanks to Aliza and the Divine Dragon’s army," Howlyn said seriously.
"They joined us the moment the Academy was destroyed. With their abilities, they helped us keep the galaxy under control, suppressing the Risen who still remained on the planets. They were scattered across the galaxy, guarding the four main planets."
Darian listened in surprise, turning toward that group of Mannaz warriors. Only then did he notice that all of them were staring at Niara, trembling slightly.
He studied those people and their weapons closely — all of them had cores, yet not a single trace of corruption. That wasn’t natural. Then, a distant memory surfaced in his mind.
It was from when he returned to that universe for the second time and found Niara fighting alone — almost suicidally — against the Risen.
After restoring their link, the two of them went out to save the regular Mannaz who had been forced to sacrifice themselves in place of the Spiritual Guardians to protect the galaxy.
They couldn’t protect them forever, so they only wiped out part of the problem. After that, Darian and Niara handpicked a thousand promising Mannaz, giving them potions and weapons with purified cores to fight. They also appointed a young Dragoness named Aliza as their leader. (Chapter 133)
Darian looked at that Dragoness in surprise. Back then, he’d done that just to help the regular Mannaz. In the end, it had been worth it — those thousand had really managed to defend the galaxy with minimal losses among the Mannaz. After that, he’d never thought about them again.
But that small bit of help in the past had changed them completely. Even as regular Mannaz, half of them had survived and grown stronger, saving the people from the Academy.
Niara smiled faintly as she recognized them too. "Good work."
When she said that, all five hundred of them dropped to one knee.
"Thank you, Divine Dragon!" roared Aliza on behalf of everyone.
Darian snorted. Back then, they had seen Niara use his white power along with her spiritual root, so everyone believed she was the second coming of the Divine Dragon. Neither of them had bothered to correct that misunderstanding, figuring it would motivate those with draconic blood to push themselves harder.
But after meeting the Divine Dragon’s will, Niara had actually received its inheritance — and now, she could be considered something close to that.
Darian looked at everyone seriously. "Sorry for taking so long..."
Then he was as honest as possible and explained his theory about what had happened. Everyone listened intently, and their expressions shifted.
"So... that means your missionary power was recognized..." Vahnu murmured at the end.
Darian nodded. "I’ve been through a lot in ten years, and I can say I’ve gone through a massive transformation. I don’t know the exact reason behind the mechanism that removed this universe’s protection, but it was inevitable. Maybe if that thousand-year event had happened any later, the Celestial Shadow would’ve fully recovered. So, in a way, it happened at an acceptable time — and we still have time to fight."
Everyone listened and nodded, lost in thought. The situation was critical and already seemed impossible to reverse — now that the Celestial Shadow’s soul had recovered and could fight again. That was an immortal soul, one with power surpassing even those with nine rings.
But... he was back.
Everyone took a deep breath and clenched their fists, believing he’d make the miracle happen again.
At that moment, a strong spatial fluctuation spread through the area, and everyone instantly turned toward it.
In the middle of the ruins, a spatial channel opened. From inside, a group of nearly a hundred thousand Spiritual Guardians and Summoners emerged. They had all kinds of power levels, from the seventh to the ninth ring.
Those who had been deep in thought just seconds before widened their eyes at the sight of the newcomers.
Darian looked at the group and sighed. He had expected at least half a million Spiritual Guardians — after all, he had called upon the three allied Empires of Earth, as well as several powerful planets that supported him in that universe. But over the past thousand years, most of their Summoners had died, so many were unable to return.
And then... 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
"First Princess Niara!"
Several Spiritual Guardians flew excitedly toward her, eyes wide.
Niara smiled, "Tetoya, Zelkov..." She happily greeted the princes, princesses, and several others from planet Vadise.
They had already seen Niara’s humanoid form back on Vadise, but they were sure it was only a metamorphosis — since her true form was far more beastly, resembling an eastern dragon.
Now, they couldn’t believe that what they’d seen before had only been a partial transformation of her true self. In reality, she was a Mannaz who had been brought to their universe using a borrowed body.
Now they stood before the real one — and it left them stunned.
A metamorphosis and a real body were like heaven and earth in comparison. The natural aura she radiated gave off a much stronger and more beautiful impression than before. And also...
...just like them in this universe, she previously possessed only had a third of her original power. It was hard to believe that she had once been limited and still managed to rival them so easily.
But that shock faded quickly when they saw her standing beside Darian.
He, too, was in his true body, which to anyone else would’ve been something terrifyingly insane. But to them, at this point, if there was someone capable of doing something absurd or strange, that someone was Darian. And Niara... was indeed the perfect match for that kind of madness.
In the distance, Darian noticed the doubtful, worried gazes of Camille, Nikolai, and Tian Yu. The three emperors had come with a massive army of young warriors, but upon arriving, they found themselves facing an unexpected change.
Darian sighed, walking closer to everyone. "The situation changed drastically. Anyway... it’s good that your Summoners survived."
He also spotted Cyaos standing ahead of a large group of Spiritual Guardians. They were all humans from different planets across the universe who wanted to ally with Darian.
Two other massive armies also stepped forward calmly. Their powerful auras — and their 8 or 9 rings — made it clear they had been sent by the immortals Aurix and Caliris, under his direct command.
Darian turned to Howlyn. "Let’s start rebuilding the entire academy first, then begin the attack. All of these here are part of my current offensive army. But... they don’t even represent 1% of the real power."
He said that slowly, and everyone around him looked confused. A hundred thousand Spiritual Guardians... many of them with 8 and 9 rings... and still not even 1%?
Darian gave a faint smile. "I have a long-term plan. We just need to stabilize everything and buy some time."
Once he finished speaking, he waved his hand and opened his inventory. Suddenly, a large, shattered mirror appeared in his hands.
"Come on, everyone. It’s time to see your new home."
