Damned Healer-Chapter 472: Blade To Our Necks
After hearing everything Howlyn knew, Darian didn’t waste time and gathered the half a million Spiritual Guardians and Summoners who were waiting.
He moved to a deserted region far from the Academy. Everyone was there, most of them going through hellish training under Niara, Lucy, and those with nine rings.
Camille, in that world, had a humanoid appearance quite close to her body on Earth, but with one striking difference — her aura and skin tone were greenish, and her body was covered in leaves and flowers. She looked more like a dryad from fantasy tales than a human.
She was the main trainer, focusing on teaching the Mannaz.
Everyone had chosen that place because there was a small, two-meter-tall tree there, shining brightly.
Anyone exhausted could simply get close to it and would immediately collapse to the ground, falling into a deep sleep. In less than ten minutes, they would wake up completely recovered.
That tree was Athven, replanted by Darian, who used a huge amount of his white power to restore it. Its body had been completely destroyed, but its soul had remained intact inside a seed. In a few years, it would grow enough to bear new fruit and return to what it once was.
When Darian approached, everyone stopped and turned to him, excited.
"Dan! Everyone’s ready for the real test," Niara said enthusiastically.
He turned to the others. The people from the Polar Circle Empire and the Celestial Order had also had enough time to forge weapons and armor using materials from the Academy’s treasure vault.
"It’s time..." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖
Darian briefly explained the place. Everyone would be divided according to the number of rings, going to one of three worlds. As for him, he would take to the Root World a small army of up to four rings, formed by the three Earth Empires.
Just like at the welcome party, Darian said he didn’t care about the number of rings or the talent of each one — the three Emperors had brought people from all levels.
Darian added lightly:
"Your goal will be simple. Focus on the place you’ll be in, find all the traitors from the other Academy, and discover anything about what the Risen are plotting. Of course, along the way, you might find chances to grow stronger — which is great, because where there are opportunities, there are crowds of outsiders trying the same thing. That way, you’ll be able to gather lots of information. In the end, we’ll have only four years to return safely."
Everyone nodded seriously, understanding his orders.
Those who had been training moved toward the World Tree to recover.
At the same time, Emperor Nikolai and Tian Yu moved an enormous flying ship, created jointly by the people of both Empires.
Just as Amara and Haruto had once worked together, combining their forging skills, now the two Empires did everything together, realizing how much that brought immense benefits.
Camille watched everything in silence. A little over ten years ago, all the Empires had been absolute rivals. She and those two emperors had maintained only a minimally friendly relationship, avoiding unnecessary conflicts. Now, Darian had completely united the three Empires — everyone worked side by side, without hesitation.
Of course, in that universe, they had all set aside the titles they once held, becoming just Spiritual Guardians like everyone else.
But after fighting together on the battlefield and seeing the results of that alliance, Camille knew that once they returned to Earth, that union would only grow stronger and become even greater.
In less than an hour, everyone boarded a huge flying ship whose internal space had been distorted to hold half a million people.
Darian turned to Howlyn, who handed him the Academy’s crystal.
The Sacred Tree of Enfield wasn’t separated from the universe, so messages could be sent in and out. With that, he would know when the galaxy was safe and when it was time to strike with full force.
"Let’s go."
Darian said calmly, and the flying ship shot forward, piercing through space-time.
...
Within minutes, everyone on board looked around with different expressions.
They had moved far enough away from the only galaxy still shining — the only point of light they had once been able to see in that universe. Now, they were surrounded by complete emptiness — no reference points or light in any direction.
That was a universe that had once held countless galaxies and life...
...but now, only one single galaxy still had light, while another was still desperately fighting to wipe out the invaders, not knowing if it would ever have real life again.
Darian saving that galaxy was only a temporary relief — it hadn’t truly changed much. After all, all planetary life, every sun, and everything else had been killed forever. For ordinary people, that was something irreversible.
Niara stared out at the space around them with a distant look. Facing that gloomy vastness, everyone finally grasped the scale of the corruption that had taken over the universe. The feeling was awful.
Darian looked at her, sensing something off.
She felt anxious — something he’d never noticed in her before. Back then, she always lived in the moment and didn’t waste time on that stuff, but... in those ten years, Niara had matured a lot. She’d had all the support of living among the people of Vadise and being taught by Painita.
Darian reached out and gently took her hand. Niara turned to him immediately.
"It’s fine. Lian taught me a lot of useful stuff. He said that when I level up my rings, my primordial core will be able to generate more and more chaos power. When I hit eight rings, burning... lots and lots of resources to support it, I might be able to create a small sun."
Niara looked at him — and a different light came into her amber eyes.
"With a sun, there’s a small chance the dead planets near it could be reborn. The chances are... really small, but it’s not impossible. Life can adapt, and some living planets will appear. Over time, we’ll recover more and more galaxies and rebuild everything," he continued, softly.
She smiled, squeezing his hand with confidence. Still, Darian clearly felt something stuck inside her.
Seeing his calm look, Niara sighed. Between them, there was no hiding anything.
"I’m sure you’ll pull it off. The problem is... I need to prove myself, show I can help you... compared to the little I’ve seen of you now... damn, Dan! You can even fight people with nine rings? I’ve lost all my confidence! Even my strongest point in battle — fighting with my body — you’re better at now." Niara spoke with a choked voice.
Darian fell silent, only then realizing the source of her distress. At first he’d been just a healer, with the possibility of using dark power to kill if needed. She’d been his flesh-and-blood shield, supporting him and blocking enemies. But now he could do practically everything alone. She noticed that and had been pressuring herself mentally.
"You don’t have to worry so much. I’m a missionary of Heaven’s Will; all my power is only useful when I fight for a purpose. Even if I can do many things alone, I can’t handle everything at once. I need extra hands to be effective."
"Also... my physique reached a very high level, but it was a huge leap to the top, way too fast... it was like jumping from level one to forty at once. From now on it’ll evolve much slower, and I can’t focus only on that to speed it up. Your Primordial Dragon Bloodline is really special — the only one that can reach the absolute peak, even surpassing an immortal. So if you keep advancing, your speed and evolution in physique and linked areas will be much greater, and eventually you’ll surpass me. Right now, comparing yourself to me is a little silly. Also... you learned new things from Painita, right? I heard some rumors from Tetoya and Zelkov."
Niara nodded; her eyes grew serious and gained a shiny gleam. Still, she couldn’t hide a small smile.
"I won’t fall behind for long! Remember that — I’ll still be the frontline. We’ll save this universe together."
Darian nodded; she’d regained her confidence.
"But... there’s something else..." Niara suddenly murmured. "I instinctively feel we’re approaching something way beyond our current level."
Darian snorted lightly. "I feel it too. But we can’t run. We have to go in and do something to avoid the worst. The time shift in this universe was unexpected and dangerous... it put a blade to our necks — ready to cut. The enemies won’t wait for us to get stronger."
