Damned Healer-Chapter 473: Root World
The flying ship basically crossed the universe from one end to the other — that galaxy was insanely far away. It took almost three months of travel, even at speeds that distorted space — way faster than light.
You can't open a spatial gate for such a distance without supreme artifacts; those only existed in the other universe. Later, Darian would remember that and ask for some to keep in his inventory to save time. For now, all they could do was travel like this.
Manipulating space at that level to move wasn't impossible for people with nine rings who had the right blessing. The problem was Mannaz bodies couldn't handle that kind of power. So they had to build an incredibly sturdy flying ship from the best materials. Even then, every few hours they had to slow down and repair damage.
Eventually, they reached their destination.
There was nothing but darkness ahead. Everything in that galaxy was dead. In the center sat a massive black hole — the entrance to the Enfield Sacred Tree.
Darian knew a little about it from that book. Black holes were passageways to isolated regions inside universes. In the Milky Way, where Earth was, because the universe was nearly dead there probably wasn't anything inside. But in other powerful universes, these places hid a separate, extremely protected world.
When the flying ship approached the black hole, everyone felt a terrifying spatial force pressing them to a halt.
Darian looked around — no sign of Risen, no guards at the entrance. Just like Howlyn said, everything was open for anyone who wanted to enter.
At first, when this happened, everyone suspected a trap. But the Celestia Academy sent people to test it, and they actually came back alive after spending years inside.
No one truly understood the Risen Lord and the Celestial Shadow's intentions, but it was obvious it had to do with recovering a physical body.
The flying ship hovered. Darian gave the order and all defenses opened.
They were already split into three groups.
The first had 250,000 Mannaz and Spiritual Guardians with three or four rings.
All those Spiritual Guardians came from the three Earth empires, handpicked and brought by the Emperors just for a "test" — to join Darian's clan and academy. But everything had changed. Now they faced a true lethal test. There were only two paths: win or die.
This group would be led by Darian, who also had only four rings.
The second group counted 150,000 Mannaz and Spiritual Guardians, all between five and seven rings. They were elites from his clan and the Earth empires — plus humans from many planets brought by Cyaos, and Vadise princes, princesses, and the royal family.
Lucy would lead that group. Even Vadise's nobles didn't dream of challenging her command — like Niara, they all knew Darian's younger sister was terrifying.
Finally, the smallest group had 100,000 people — all with eight and nine rings. Still a huge number, sent by the immortals Caliris and Aurix; they were the elite of those two races. Among them were the three Earth emperors and Cyaos, who had eight rings.
Camille would lead them, even though she and the two Emperors were, among the nine-ringers, the weaker ones. Darian didn't care about raw power. Leadership is a calling, not a strength contest. Camille had a blessing that supported leadership, plus tons of experience.
Darian looked at everyone calmly. They stared back, serious. But slowly they felt he was too calm — like his presence exuded confidence and command.
Quickly, everyone started to relax. Darian's presence made the mission ahead feel like a controlled adventure.
Even Camille and the elders were impressed. Darian was still very young, but he looked like someone used to fighting, leading and living under constant pressure. Compared to him, they felt they'd led too easy a life.
"You don't need to rush until I get there. Prioritize gathering intel and staying safe at first. We can only go all-out after four years." Darian's voice was light, and everyone nodded. "Go. I'll investigate the Root World calmly, then we'll meet up."
Lucy and Camille exchanged one last confident look with him. He gave a small smile back — the two were physically similar; Camille was a bit taller, but they were almost sisters, even their gazes were alike.
"Who'd have thought I'd be commanded by my great-grandson… anyway, don't take too long." Camille muttered, voice slightly moved.
Quickly, the two groups jumped from the ship toward the black hole. They were pulled in.
The array could detect everyone's rings and sent each person exactly to the corresponding place — no way to cheat the rule.
As for the Risen… obviously, Enfield wouldn't allow them in. There shouldn't be any of them down there, but clearly something hidden was going on.
After the two groups vanished, Darian turned to the remaining army — young people from Earth with up to four rings, who'd never imagined facing something so extreme.
"Why are you so nervous?" Niara asked, looking at them next to Darian.
They swallowed and tried to calm themselves. She gave a small smile.
"You think Darian — your leader — will let people die for nothing? Only the disobedient will die. Listen: your only job is to follow his orders and work your asses off to carry them out. He won't ask for the impossible. So stop overthinking and just do your best, got it?"
They all took a deep breath. Their eyes turned to Darian, full of expectation. Seeing his still-calm look relaxed them even more.
"Alright… let's go." Darian said calmly, waving and putting the flying ship into his inventory.
Then they were all pulled in and disappeared.
---
The bright light brought color back to the world. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves under an endless blue sky — no clouds, no sun. A gentle breeze brushed against them, like a calm sunny day somewhere on a quiet planet.
In the middle of the landscape, piercing through the blue, a colossal tree dominated the horizon. Its trunk was so vast that it was almost impossible to see anything beyond it. Judging by its apparent size and their vantage point, the distance to that tree had to be terrifying.
Looking around, they realized they were in a mountainous region, covered in low vegetation. The gigantic tree to the north was their only goal — and the only passage to the next world.
On both sides, thousands of meters away, they could feel spatial power pulsing, forming two massive barriers.
That place was like a colossal bridge. Trying to get close to the side barriers would be fatal — the spatial power would annihilate even the strongest ones. The only option was to move forward toward their objective.
That bridge was divided into seven lines. They were on the first one — the Line of Life — where the test hadn't started yet. A few dozen kilometers ahead was the second one, known as the Line of Death.
However, in exactly twenty-four hours, the line they were standing on would turn into the Line of Death, and an army would appear to devour them alive.
That's how it always worked. Every day, the lines switched. The only way to survive was to fight and cross into the next Line of Life. That way, they'd earn one day of rest for every day of battle.
Darian took a deep breath, sensing the entire Line of Life they stood on. He didn't find any trace of karma in the area, so he relaxed.
Then he turned toward the army, calling out a few names:
"Yancy."
At the sound of her name, a small red wolf perched on a Mannaz's shoulder stirred. She was from the Polar Circle Empire but wasn't part of Amara's family nor the Emperor's.
"Caius." He continued, and a small red sparrow sitting on another Mannaz's shoulder nodded. He was a young man from the Aeternum Atlantis Empire.
"Norio." Finally, he called out to a small three-legged raven — a young man from the Celestial Order Empire.
"You three will lead your empires' groups. I'll teach you some battle formations, and you'll have one day to organize yourselves and memorize them. After that, you'll have to fight and move forward at the same time."
Darian finished, and everyone nodded nervously. They had only learned the most basic formation before; now, he was about to teach them something much more complex — though he knew they wouldn't master it in just a day.
It would be a good test. In the middle of battle, the leaders would have to observe the chaos, identify who was out of position, and command their groups while adapting on the fly.
Those three had been chosen by Niara — she had said they were the most observant and dedicated in their pursuit of improvement. Those were the basic traits of a leader.
Darian knew how to lead, train, and evaluate people through karma, but he was far from feeling what Niara felt — or having the same quick certainty she had. Niara practically had a supernatural sense that never failed.
So, the three leaders stepped forward with shining eyes, listening carefully to every instruction Darian gave. There was a studious spark in them, something that pleased him deeply.
***
Exactly twenty-four hours later, the sunny environment was covered by black clouds. Everything turned dark and grim.
Suddenly, sharp screams echoed from the north.
The shrill sounds made everyone tense. It felt like the other side was rallying — raising their morale before the fight.
"Prepare!"
The three leaders roared in unison.
All the Mannaz unsheathed their weapons, while the Spiritual Guardians made their ring powers circulate to the max.
The sound of countless footsteps made the ground tremble — a sea of enemies was approaching.
Figures began to appear in the distance. When the endless army of the Blood Race came into view, everyone held their breath.
It was impossible to estimate their numbers — they looked endless, like demons crawling out of hell, with black runes swirling around their bodies.
Although their shapes were somewhat human, their eyes were completely black, with glowing red lines in the center. Some had a single circular line, while others had up to four. Just looking into those eyes sent chills down the spine.
"That's the Blood Race...? They look even scarier than the Demons..." Niara muttered.
