Damned Healer-Chapter 481: Over-the-top Assassin
In the middle of the mist trial, suddenly, all the hidden assassins felt a chill of dread run down their spines. That was because Darian had started hunting everyone nearby directly, taking them down without mercy. He couldn't waste time there now—he had to regularly stabilize Niara's ethereal body.
He got unlucky, though—everyone around only had a few dozen tablets each. The assassins quickly started fleeing in panic, even though they couldn't hear or sense any fluctuation from him; still, they were certain they'd die if they didn't run.
Unfortunately for them, Darian could chase them with ease. He hunted them down like a relentless predator for nearly an hour, until he finally reached 900 tablets. The moment he did, Darian's backpack lit up, and a powerful spatial energy sucked him away.
He reappeared in front of an open field, no mist in sight. Ahead of him, there was a spatial distortion that made it impossible to see what was inside. Suddenly...
*Slap! Slap!*
Sharp, violent sounds echoed, along with muffled screams. They came from inside the distortion.
Then, two shadowy figures flew out of it and crashed violently into the ground. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
"My face! My nose is in the middle of my forehead!"
The two groaned in raspy, pain-filled voices.
A few seconds later, they stood back up, their faces swollen and twisted. They roared in fury and ran back inside.
"AHHH!"
Not even two seconds passed before another figure came flying out of the distortion like a missile, screaming in pain. After hitting the ground, they stood up with a round, purple face.
"What the hell..." Darian muttered in disbelief, taking a step forward.
A shadow appeared before him, blocking his way before he could cross the distortion. Only a pair of black eyes with eight circles could be seen on its concealed figure.
"You're number 107 to reach 900 tablets," that figure said in a dry tone, eyes fixed on Darian. "As you know, the first three hundred to do so will go straight to the final test. But before that, everyone gets a big reward. On the other side, there's the Gorewood Tree. This test was planned to happen right when its fruits are ripe for harvest..."
*SLAP! CRASH!!*
While he explained, the violent sounds of slaps, screams, and bodies crashing into the ground kept going nonstop.
The figure snorted, clearly irritated, and continued, "You can go in and pick as many as you want, but you must consume everything before the final test. You've already taken several potions containing a bit of this fruit's essence—that's how you reached the eight circles, escaping the restrictions of this damned Array. But be aware, a whole fruit has terrifying power and immeasurable benefits for our race; at the same time, nothing's that simple."
"That tree has its own consciousness and won't let just anyone pick its fruits easily. You need to stand below and send your power upward, slowly cutting the fruit's connection to the tree. With effort, the fruit will fall, and you'll be able to eat it. After eating one, your body might explode if you lose focus even for a second while absorbing its benefits—so do it slowly..."
He stopped again and took a step to the side just as a figure came flying from behind, missing him by inches before slamming into the ground nearby.
Darian took a deep breath, confused, but already sensing who was at the center of all that chaos.
"At this pace, you'll have about two hours until the three hundred slots are filled. After that, the last ones to arrive will get one extra hour to collect some fruits. Getting here early gives you a big advantage." The instructor finished dryly, then vanished without another word.
Darian sighed. He could clearly feel the instructor and about a dozen others watching everything happening there. They were hidden from normal eyes and senses, but not from his. No one could break the rules or cause trouble without them noticing.
Without delay, he moved forward and stepped through the distortion.
Then...
"Damn it! I already said everything here is mine! Don't blame me for being cruel!"
The place was an open space with a single blood-red tree, thirty meters tall, standing at its center. At the tree's base... was Niara, wearing her assassin's cloak and mask.
She was alone, while the other 105 who had passed the trial were scattered across the ground in every direction—some groaning in pain, others consumed by boundless rage. Their masks were completely shattered, and their faces were exposed and swollen on both sides, some with clear red handprints.
"HOW DARE YOU!!! THIEF!!!"
One of them shouted, charging at Niara and the tree.
She snorted and made a clean motion with her open hand.
**SLAP!!**
That person flew off, spitting blood like a meteor, crashing through the distortion.
"Don't act all important in front of me! Do you believe me when I say I could kill you with a single slap? I'm being gentle here and going easy on you clowns!" she snapped dryly.
"THIS BENEFIT IS FOR EVERYONE!!!! ATTACK!!!"
Someone else shouted, and a bunch of them kept charging at her nonstop. In the end, Niara wasn't slapping to kill. So everyone just got back up after a while and tried again.
Darian was speechless, mouth open in resignation. This woman was a master at causing trouble. An assassin needs to stay completely calm all the time... with a hurricane temperament like hers, how could she fool anyone into thinking she was a professional killer?
*SLAP! SLAP SLAP!*
Niara slapped like she was shooing flies. She gave off a weird aura, and her attention was totally on the tree, like it was her personal treasure.
After sending everyone flying, she turned to the tree and reached out, plucking a fist-sized fruit with no trouble.
She took a bite of the fruit from under her mask... Darian felt her face flush a deep red of satisfaction, almost ecstasy. She quickly chewed and swallowed everything, moving on to another fruit with a ravenous, undeniable joy.
Darian sighed. He felt an extreme excitement coming from her, and seeing everything, he finally understood what was happening.
That fruit was absolutely delicious and addictive to her taste. It wasn't a purely physical fruit; it entered the ethereal body and dissolved into pure energy. For the Blood Race, it had a unique effect, but for others, it would be different.
Niara… let's say she had an insatiable appetite. The rules said she could take as many as she wanted, and while the fruits were on the tree, they had no owner.
She wouldn't attack people directly — Niara wasn't aggressive like that. But somehow she could take the fruits without the tree caring. So she kept pulling fruits off quickly… and the people trying to harvest with a lot of effort grew jealous and furious.
Wherever there's a group of arrogant idiots, there's a leader who incites the rest. They tried to force her to stop, and Niara got furious, sending them away. They must have said something she didn't like, and as a consequence, she didn't let anyone near the tree.
She chose to slap them… because Darian had told her not to punch and kill violently so she wouldn't look like an assassin… which obviously didn't help much.
Slaps don't cause serious harm; they're meant to humiliate the opponent, and that was working well.
All 105 people looked like their heads had turned into pigs' faces from so much swelling. They'd been slapped over and over, but they couldn't give up, or they wouldn't get any fruit.
They used their weapons and deadliest assassin moves... but unfortunately for them, they were assassins. Their specialty focused on movement and attack with no defensive power. Their blows were concentrated, designed to surprise and kill quickly with no escape—assuming the target didn't notice them coming.
But in that situation—everyone attacking her head-on—their strikes became pathetic. Niara could instinctively see and feel where they'd come from; she only needed to dodge a little and smack them in the face.
All the instructors, however, just watched without interfering. Probably, there were no precedents or rules against what was happening. She wasn't doing anything they had told them not to. Like they told Darian, anyone could pick as many fruits as they could.
Fighting over the fruits… obviously, when someone knocked a fruit down, they became a target for others who'd try to steal it sometimes. So, even though this wasn't an official test but a reward, conflicts and some deaths were very common.
Darian snorted and approached with slow steps.
Niara didn't notice him until he was ten meters away. She narrowed her eyes, ready to attack, and then saw him.
'Dan, Dan! This is amazing!' she sent mentally, eyes shining. 'Can you save some? There are two different kinds — one super sweet that Lucy will love. The other very... very bitter and weird that Lucius will adore.'
Darian looked into her eyes, feeling her genuine carefree joy and seeing the chaotic innocence of her thoughts. He didn't have the heart to scold her. Reprimanding that freedom would be trying to prune who she was.
He smiled slightly — a smile of complete acceptance. He'd always lived worried, fearful, under pressure; he never had something like that inside him. That's why he loved and wanted to protect this chaotic, free side of her.
He stepped closer, ignoring the moans and angry glares of the swollen competitors.
'You're a bit of an over-the-top assassin, huh?' he murmured, "Alright, if you're going to do it, I'll help you do it properly. You need to slap the guests more methodically, make them have a mental collapse from so much rage."
'Oh! Dan really knows what he's doing!' Niara smiled — even behind the mask, Darian could feel it.
The poor assassins froze, all feeling a chill in their spines.
