Damned Healer-Chapter 490: Overpowers

During the battle against the enemy army led by Niara, a Mannaz was hiding in a corner, sheltered very close to the edge of the place. Her eyes were closed, surrounded by a grayish aura.

That was a chaos-power technique Darian had used on Lucy's partner; it was all to separate them across long distances for a limited time.

Even with her defenselessness, Darian trusted Niara completely to take care of that Mannaz.

---

Inside the ring of death, two figures faced each other near a cave.

Lucy murmured in a trembling voice, "Bro, I…"

"What is it?" Darian asked seriously.

"I… I really want to laugh… HAHAHAHAHAHA..."

"You can't laugh... damn it!" Even Darian couldn't hold back after saying that. He and Lucy had "become" those two White-Bloods.

They'd slipped into the place undercover, with Darian controlling the inscription. It was easy and quick. But they didn't kill them — Darian sealed their souls into the bodies using chaos power. Then he and Lucy, who had ethereal bodies, invaded and took control.

That way, they became those two, and there was no chance anyone would discover them were infiltrators, unless someone directly probed the souls of the two.

Lucy couldn't do that, but Darian had learned the technique perfectly with chaos power. So he went in first and then helped her do the same.

Now Darian looked... slender and curvy, wearing a short, revealing outfit.

Unfortunately for him, the two bodies in the cave were women. Lower-level Black-Bloods didn't pick genders — they were all neutral. But White-Bloods chose and looked the part. So Darian's new appearance was too much for Lucy to hold her laughter.

On the other hand, Lucy was now tall and very voluptuous, quite different from her true self, and she liked the new experience.

Darian had chosen the woman inside the cave, and she was someone important.

After laughing a lot, Lucy felt much more upbeat. She liked being near her two brothers and felt completely at ease with them. Losing Lucius that whole time had been a huge blow to her.

After getting used to their new bodies and Lucy doing a little work, they moved calmly toward that race's army.

...

Shortly after, entering one of the branches, a soldier pointed at them, radiating a bloody aura.

Lucy widened her eyes, ready to attack, but Darian didn't waste time — he moved like a lightning strike, landing a precise punch that sent the enemy flying. That drew a lot of attention.

That soldier had been cursing the duo for being cowards — for choosing not to attack the Ring of Life and returning too early.

However, after throwing him away and watching him get up, Darian pointed and spat the words in a sharp, dry voice:

"You got the nerve to talk to me like that, huh? Looks like it's been a while since I slaughtered some bastards!"

His voice made all the soldiers freeze, only then recognizing that 'woman'.

The outer form Darian had taken was that of a small squad leader known for an explosive temper. Earlier, Lucy had read the memories of the two bodies, so they both knew their statuses deeply.

All the soldiers raised their fists toward them — apparently a sign of approval among the White-Bloods.

Darian kept cursing that other guy: "Why do you think I'd care about those weaklings? Your leader was killed earlier by those weak people. You're as useless as he was, and you still dare to be arrogant? Go home and eat more shit. Our race doesn't need useless scum like you."

In the fight a little over three months ago, Lucy had killed that squad leader of the soldier Darian had punched. Knowing this, Darian hit the wound directly.

"You bitch! I'll kill you!"

The soldier roared and tried to attack Darian, but others held him back. That woman wasn't easy to deal with, and her arrogance matched her power. So they dragged the man away.

Darian snorted arrogantly, put on a cold expression, and kept walking. Naturally, no one provoked him again, so he and Lucy moved on in silence.

All this was done so they could continue their journey without interruption. Darian had gone straight at those people, knowing this would happen. Now, no one would try to talk to them, minimizing the chance of any unexpected problems.

...

After two hours of walking, they reached the banks of a long river. In the center, there was a big island with a massive castle rising in the middle.

They both took a deep breath and focused as hard as they could. They managed, with great effort, to control the lineage power of those bodies. They couldn't use their own powers, and manipulating something so different from what they were used to was complex. Luckily, no one was watching closely enough to notice anything off.

They flew over the river's waters — a strange white water with a strong fishy smell. When they reached the island, they saw countless members of that race moving around; fortunately, they seemed busy, and nobody bothered them.

Using the memories of the bodies' owners, Darian and Lucy advanced across the cave-filled island toward the castle. It was like a hive.

Those caves were training grounds, similar to the one the two had invaded. The closer to the island's center, the higher the cave's level. Only nine-circle people lived there, training day and night.

When they neared the castle entrance—

"Stop!"

Two guards blocked the way.

Darian snorted and said coldly, "Please, tell His Majesty King Stem that I have a report for him."

"His Majesty is meditating. No one may disturb him," the guard said, looking Darian up and down. Even though they were of the same race, those two guards didn't seem to think highly of that woman.

"I bring important news. If you report it and His Majesty wants to blame someone, blame me. But if you refuse to report it and waste precious time, His Majesty will surely have your heads rolled. Don't blame me then," Darian mocked, turning to leave.

The two guards' expressions changed. One of them finally said, "Calm down. I'll deliver the message. Whether His Majesty wants to see you or not, that's your problem."

They were clearly afraid of taking responsibility. Then one of them pressed a red button by the entrance — the signal that something important needed to be reported.

After a while, there was no response. The guard said, "The message's been sent, but His Majesty doesn't want to see you. You can leave."

Darian sighed inwardly. But just as he started to walk away, the stone gate creaked and opened.

"Let her in."

Darian and Lucy both smiled slightly and started moving. But the guards tried to block Lucy.

Darian said coldly, "Get out of the way. What I have to report to the King is related to her. Without her, my report's useless."

"Let them in!"

A sharp, impatient voice came from inside before the guards could reply. Startled, they stepped aside and allowed both to enter.

The inside of the castle was overflowing with violet energy. Clearly, the King was using the power from the Divine Flame of the Mind to make himself stronger.

Actually, back in that previous cave where the owners of their bodies had been, there had also been a trace of that same flame. That race absorbed its power and had a method to channel it through a special inscription to help with absorption. Lucy, who had studied inscriptions for a long time, was deeply intrigued by it.

The castle was empty, with only one path leading to the main hall.

King Stem held a high position — he ruled one of the variants of the White Bloods.

The woman Darian was pretending to be was an insignificant member of King Stem's domain. But thanks to flattery and usefulness, she'd been promoted to a somewhat decent rank. Still, most around the King despised her, calling her a parasite with no real strength.

When they arrived at the main hall, the place looked more like a cave. There was a white lake giving off a strange energy, and in its center sat the King. Even sitting down, his body was massive — three meters tall, big and muscular.

Knowing King Stem's temper, Darian got straight to the point:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, your subordinate brings two important pieces of news: one good, one bad. The bad news is that King Fepen was surrounded and killed in today's battle. His body was taken."

Darian said something Lucy had gathered from the memories of their hosts. During Niara's battle, the King had secretly gone to participate. So even if he wasn't actually dead yet, Darian wasn't lying — he definitely wouldn't make it back alive.

"What?!" King Stem roared, standing up. "Who killed him?!"

Darian answered seriously, "Your Majesty, people newly arrived from the Root World joined those who were already here. Apparently… they're the same ones who stole the Divine Flame of the Soul before…"

"Fuck!" King Stem spat, feeling a surge of pressure as he realized he'd need to coordinate his forces for the next attack.

Darian continued, "Aside from that bad news, there's good news. My trusted subordinate infiltrated the battlefield and crossed to the other side. She saw everything and took advantage of the serious injury King Fepen inflicted on one of them before he died; she managed to kill that one and steal a treasure from him."

At that, King Stem's eyes shifted instantly.

Darian turned to Lucy. "What are you staring at?! Hurry and hand over the treasure to His Majesty! If His Majesty's pleased, you'll be rewarded for sure!"

Lucy flinched and pulled a small bundle of cloth from her chest, revealing a strange, razor-sharp dagger that gave off a powerful water-element aura. Along with it, a fierce killing intent filled the cave.

King Stem's eyes widened. "That's really something good."

While he admired it, Lucy knelt on one knee and stretched her arm forward, offering the dagger.

He reached out to take it immediately, when—

The dagger suddenly moved!

*PIERCE!*

The blade shot out like lightning and stabbed him right in the solar plexus. The idiot King was about to grab it when he felt its terrifying power. The dagger froze him completely from the inside out.

"Good work, Eleri," said Darian, satisfied.

It all happened so fast and silently. A sentient weapon attacking with such immense power was totally unexpected.

"Hehe, that was way too easy," she replied cheerfully.

Darian then struck the back of the King's neck hard, knocking him out, and quickly sealed his soul completely.

"Hitting him right when he was emotionally unstable was perfect. The opening he gave was huge," Lucy murmured with a mischievous grin.

Darian nodded. His plan had been to first hit him with shocking, bad news — then show something amazing to lift his spirits. It worked perfectly to lower his guard.

Lucy quickly left her host body and began working with Darian to read the King's memories.

After an hour, Darian had absorbed everything and calmly analyzed it. In the end, what he found made him excited. King Stem's memories were vast and full of details about that place.

They gained some understanding of the enemy's movements. Those without circles were individuals approved by the Risen Lords to become their soldiers — the overpowers of that race. They no longer counted as part of it officially and only acted during crucial times.

As it turned out, Lucy and her army had been incredibly unlucky, attacking on the exact day the strongest ones were harvesting energy from the Divine Flame of the Mind.

After that battle, they gathered all the energy they could and left the place. That's why there hadn't been another attack. And most importantly, the Divine Flame of the Mind was now severely depleted, and no one was allowed near it for the next six months — the time needed for it to recover a bit.

If Darian could get past the barriers and guards, he could approach it and steal it easily.

But of course, he knew things were never that simple for him. Up to that point, everything had gone smoothly — but he knew better than to get too confident or act recklessly.