Damned Healer-Chapter 470: Start Over

Darian’s eyes shone with a grayish aura. The power of chaos flowed from his body straight into the mirror.

*Crack!*

A sharp, piercing sound echoed. The mirror, which was already fractured, now displayed a massive split running right through its center.

Everyone around him froze in shock — especially those from the Dharma and Devil World planets, who immediately recognized that mirror.

Darian let out a short breath and waved his hand.

*CRACK!!*

With an even louder shattering sound, the entire mirror exploded into thousands of fragments. In that instant, a terrifying spatial power burst forth, and countless runes began to manifest all around.

Darian waved again, using his domain to stabilize the spatial runes. Within seconds, they fused together, forming a circular mass that rapidly expanded. Only then did everyone realize what they were seeing.

It was a spatial channel. A gigantic one! 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Moments later, the structure solidified, and a suffocating primordial aura poured out from inside the channel.

That was just the faintest remaining trace of that world’s power — yet even that tiny amount made everyone on the planet feel overwhelmed by its purity.

"Come out!" Darian commanded firmly.

Suddenly, figures started shooting out of the portal, one after another, nonstop.

At first, everyone was startled — they looked like human children. But soon they realized it was only a transformation.

Hundreds of them came out in sequence, and the moment their feet touched the ground, their eyes immediately locked onto Darian.

Then... their faces twisted in tears.

"Big brother!" they all shouted at once, running toward him.

Darian took a deep breath, feeling a wave of emotion flood through him. It was his army of little Heavenly Elemental Spirits.

After the deaths of Eleri, Awel, and Tir, Darian had simply turned his back on everyone and left. Even after all those years, none of them had moved on to the next phase of the Trial, because Darian had told them to stay behind.

They had never disobeyed him. So they waited patiently for years — anxious, knowing how broken he was inside — but unable to help him. Now, seeing him again, they were overjoyed and couldn’t hold back their tears.

"Hold on... we’ve got a lot to talk about, but right now I need to get things in order..." he murmured, his voice clearly trembling.

All of them, eyes sparkling and filled with tears, just nodded and silently gathered around him.

After them, an endless stream of people began pouring out of the channel.

They came in all sizes, shapes, races, and power levels. Every second, hundreds emerged without pause.

The most experienced ones — those with nine rings — watched in utter disbelief, completely stunned. They recognized the traits of those races... races that, until now, had only existed in legends and ancient tales scattered across countless high-level universes.

It took nearly an hour for the flow to stop.

The planet that housed the Shadows of Heaven Academy was more than twice the size of Earth. Just an hour earlier, it had only a few hundred people. Now, it had nearly a billion.

They were all survivors from the three phases of the Trial — from both the Devil and Celestial Worlds.

All of them belonged to ancient, primordial races of absurd power — beings that could only have existed at the dawn of the universes. Even the hybrids were direct descendants of those ancient bloodlines. From these original races, all others that now populated the universes had been born.

In the current Divine Protection Universe, there were very few beast races left, aside from the Mannaz, who were half-human.

But now, with these new arrivals, that universe was about to be reborn with a terrifying diversity — far greater than before. The galaxy was practically empty, and in the future, there would be no shortage of space for them to grow.

However, there were still countless problems to solve. There was no sun in that galaxy, and all the planets were dead. Life could only be sustained artificially through external power — something unsustainable in the long term.

When the last being crossed through the portal, all the spatial runes vanished forever. The mirror, the world they had come from — everything was completely erased into nothingness.

The newcomers gathered together, forming an enormous silent crowd, waiting.

Going back a bit in time — at the moment Darian won the Trial and chose to take them all alive with him — Lian made sure to appear before everyone and reveal the truth.

They learned that they were supposed to have been killed, but were spared by the victor, who gave up part of the power that was rightfully his to protect them.

He told them that Darian would take them to an almost-dead universe, where they could help him purify the corruption and start over in a more suitable place. Everyone understood — excited and grateful — since any fate was better than simply dying.

After that announcement, the barriers and all the power sustaining that world vanished. Since the strongest ones — those from the last two levels — knew and were loyal to Darian, everything was organized by them in his absence.

During the following months, they stayed in that world, gathering every kind of resource they could find in the land and preparing to leave. Naturally, since the area of the last level had once held the highest energy and best resources, everyone gathered there, digging up whatever they could.

Back to the present.

Darian rose into the skies alongside Niara, and everyone below lifted their heads, watching them with eager, expectant eyes.

"This will be everyone’s new home. But... the situation here is extremely complicated and difficult. The enemies are powerful and treacherous. So, you all must remember why you’re still alive — you must fight to protect this new home, and dedicate your lives so that everyone here can prosper together."

Darian’s voice was calm, but his eyes carried a cold determination sharp as a blade.

He wasn’t naïve — he knew he had to handle things in the most severe way possible. It was obvious that once the Risen Lords discovered these people, they would try to corrupt them, just like they had done to others across the universe.

"First, everyone needs to focus on rebuilding this planet we’re standing on. This place is the foundation of everything, and right now, it’s one of the few safe zones in this entire galaxy. All the resources you brought must be stored in the new Academy. After that, everyone will help clean up this galaxy and start populating every possible corner of it."

Everyone nodded — they knew Darian had every right to all the resources they had gathered in that world. They had worked tirelessly to collect them, because the strongest among them trusted that Darian would use everything to help them rebuild.

Darian turned to Howlyn and introduced her to everyone as his second-in-command. All her orders were to be heard and followed without question — otherwise...

"I’ll only say this once. This universe only needs people willing to save it and make it thrive. I won’t show the slightest mercy if I see any wrong actions or intentions from any of you. Many of you know me, and you know I can see through things like that. So don’t force me to take back the lives I chose to save."

On the ground, less than a third of those present were from the second and third phases of the Trial — groups that Darian had already purged heavily and that knew him well. The vast majority, however, came from the desert, where most had only heard rumors about his presence there.

Because of that, Darian would have to keep a close eye on everyone. He planned to use those he trusted most — his strongest and most loyal followers — to watch over the rest and keep things under control.

"Everything’s been said," Darian declared firmly, turning to Howlyn, who looked back at him with her eyes shining.

"They’re not just numbers — they’re formidable warriors. Each one of them, even the weakest, carries a hidden power inside their bodies strong enough to rival a Spiritual Guardian. The weakest among them should be able to fight Risen Chiefs without much trouble, as long as they learn to resist corruption. And the strongest... I believe that together, they might even be able to stand against the Risen Lords."

Howlyn’s eyes widened.

Darian, however, had only made an estimate. All those who had once been part of the old system still had a primordial core inside their bodies. Even after the end of the Trial, that core remained.

Those who lived in the desert couldn’t produce chaotic power in their cores, but their bodies were extremely durable and fit for battle. The others, empowered by even a small portion of chaotic power, possessed incomparable fighting strength.

Of course, they had lost the system runes, as well as the primordial Yin and Yang of that world. Because of that, 99% of the techniques they had learned based on those elements had become useless. It would take some time for them to adapt their powers to the new reality.

Darian kept his gaze on Howlyn. "Now that I’m back, I’m gonna make you work hard again. I hope you’re not tired, ’cause there are a lot of people to manage now. We’re gonna completely transform this planet — then the galaxy — and after that, we’ll fill this whole universe."

Howlyn trembled from head to toe. It had been a thousand long, torturous years — on top of the countless ones she had lived as a Risen Lord — but now, she had never felt this much excitement in her entire life.

***

At that moment, in a region far, far away from the galaxy where Darian was...

A pair of eyes opened in the middle of the darkness.

Immediately, every Risen Lord in the universe felt that awakening. Their souls stirred, and their bodies moved in perfect sync. All of them rushed in a single direction.

"The Celestial Shadow has awakened!"