Damned Healer-Chapter 480: Misfortune Of All

The two moved forward stealthily, stopping after a while — far ahead, there was someone. But Niara couldn't see or sense anything at all. Holding her hand, Darian sent the image of the figure into her mind.

For anyone else, nothing could be seen or felt, but Darian could perceive them through their karma. Then, using chaos power in his eyes, he could see everything clearly.

It was a masked, hooded figure, silently camouflaged in a large tree. Completely still, its aura blended perfectly with the surroundings.

'Is it a sentinel?' Niara asked mentally, surprised. Theoretically, they were still far from the important area. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Darian shook his head. 'Doesn't look like it. If it were a sentinel, its body wouldn't be so rigid, and its fluctuations wouldn't be so sharp. It seems really nervous.'

The two stayed still, watching for a while. After a few minutes, the person suddenly moved, darting toward a rock like lightning.

Then, blood splattered — he was killed, exploding on the spot.

Another person, extremely fast, had struck him with a precise long-range attack. After killing him, this second figure picked something up from the ground, analyzed it for a few seconds, and then moved away, disappearing into the fog.

Once everything settled, Darian and Niara crept forward.

There was no body, but strangely, many things remained on the ground — clothes, a mask, a spatial ring, and a sword.

Darian picked up the spatial ring. Inside, almost everything was empty; the only thing present was a Jade Slip. Whoever killed him must have seen it before and ignored it, grabbing something else before leaving.

Darian read its contents and suddenly understood. It contained the rules of the trial — just simple information everyone already knew. They had arrived at the perfect time for the judgment.

The preliminaries had taken place right there. Almost everyone who failed died, but the one they killed earlier, who had gotten this information, had managed to escape and retreat.

So, everyone inside now was a participant in the trial — and no outsider would be crazy enough to enter, since they'd instantly become a target.

It was a judgment to become a blood assassin. Darian had no idea exactly what it entailed, but he'd find out soon enough.

Millions of assassins were being judged in that area, and each carried a tablet. To pass, they had to collect nine tablets from others. In other words, out of every ten participants, almost nine had to die for one to advance.

Nine tablets was the minimum standard. Ninety was considered exceptional. And if someone got nine hundred, they could skip directly to the final phase, bypassing all other stages.

Darian murmured after explaining everything to Niara: 'We arrived just in time. I'll take the clothes, you take the mask. We're also joining this trial.'

'Hehehe… let's see if fake assassins like us can pass too,' Niara replied with a mischievous smile.

The assassins' gear was special, made to completely hide energy fluctuations. Using these items, combined with the disguise they already had, it would be even harder for anyone to notice they were infiltrators. They just had to act carefully and move forward to see what they could gain.

They quickly found more items left by the dead, and soon both were completely outfitted — identical to the other assassins.

Disguised, they boldly moved through the fog. To avoid drawing attention, they separated but kept a certain distance while heading in the same direction.

*BOOM!*

A 'surprise attacker' lunged at Niara but was obliterated by a single punch from her. However, the massive explosion made Darian turn with a tense expression.

'You need to hit lighter. Now you're an assassin. Don't make such a scene!' Darian said seriously.

Niara couldn't use her draconic bloodline, but she could still use mental and soul power. With her Divine Fist Art, she was still extremely strong.

Niara smiled, slightly embarrassed, and apologized. She'd forgotten she was now an assassin. The last attack had been purely instinctive.

She checked the remnants… realizing she had hit so hard she'd destroyed the tablet and the other items of that person. She hadn't gained anything from it.

To avoid confusion, the two stayed put for a while. Then, seeing no other assassins approaching, they moved deeper into the area.

'Niara, behind you.'

Darian warned, sensing someone approaching.

She pretended not to notice, until a strange figure suddenly appeared from behind. Then, a dagger pierced her neck at lightning speed, without making a sound.

However, the dagger passed straight through — Niara's body was still in its ethereal form thanks to the ring, just covered by the disguise. Something physical like that couldn't hurt her.

Niara spun awkwardly, slashing with a sword she'd picked up from the ground earlier. Before the assassin could even grunt, he exploded.

That figure had six tablets. The two split them between themselves and continued advancing, getting more familiar with the terrain.

It was important to understand that assassins didn't fight in groups. Even if they shared the same target, they still fought individually. The first rule among them was simple: an assassin could only trust themselves. Allies beside them could be even more dangerous than the enemies.

Knowing this, Darian and Niara moved through the forest in random directions, deliberately drawing other assassins in so they could kill them. Darian could sense them from miles away — he just had to inform Niara of their location, and together they collected the victims' tablets.

Beyond this trial, there were still three more to go. If they managed to gather a hundred tablets this time, they could skip the next tests entirely. That would save a lot of effort and let them avoid countless dangers.

However, the truly powerful were concentrated in the center of the testing area. These were people confident in their own strength. They hunted their enemies as fast as possible since there were only three hundred slots available for those who wanted to advance directly to the final phase. If they arrived too late, they'd miss their chance.

The area where the couple was located was the peripheral zone. Those there were relatively weak. Their goal was simple: collect nine tablets and survive.

Once they got nine tablets, they could leave the trial and receive the minimum reward for passing.

After that, they had two options: continue participating in the trials for more rewards, or quit, still securing a significant boost in status.

For these weaker people, gathering nine tablets was the ultimate goal. With some luck, they might achieve it by killing just one person — if that person already had eight tablets, allowing them to advance directly to the next phase.

Of course, the opposite could also happen: someone could kill multiple people, collect eight tablets, and then be killed by the last target. In that case, all they could do was accept their own bad luck.

That was the life of an assassin. When you accept taking someone's life just because you were ordered to, the world's karma falls on you. From that moment, your own life is worth absolutely nothing — and you rely entirely on luck and skill to keep breathing.

Time passed, and the couple kept moving toward the core. Darian and Niara had already collected more than three hundred tablets.

Along the way, Darian had to stabilize Niara every hour. It was a quick process without major disturbances: he just held her hand and forced everything to stay as it was. The ring seemed to reset, as if she had just activated it again.

As soon as they entered the central region, a figure suddenly descended from the sky, striking Niara's head. It was a surprise attack… at least, in the attacker's mind.

This time, Niara grabbed the enemy's sharp sword without hesitation, completely surprising him. He was an extremely confident assassin; otherwise, he wouldn't have attacked head-on. But he never expected his target to be able to catch the blade with bare hands.

With her other hand, Niara threw a punch, making the opponent explode violently with a boom.

"Oops!"

She brought her hand to her mouth, realizing she'd once again done something way too flashy.

Darian sighed, quickly scanning the surroundings, not stopping for her.

'Wow, I hit the jackpot!'

Niara exclaimed, thrilled to find eight hundred ninety-seven tablets with that enemy. She quickly collected them and placed them in the bag meant exclusively for tablets. At that moment, the bag glowed intensely…

…and Niara's figure disappeared.

"!"

Darian reacted too late, not even able to warn her to stop.

He hadn't expected… no — he should have expected. It was Niara, after all. He could never forget that. If he had told her beforehand not to do it, she would have obeyed. But since he said nothing, she acted without thinking, fully trusting that he would take care of things.

Everything happened too fast. Now, she had been taken, as if she'd passed the trial — leaving him alone… to the misfortune of all the other assassins.