Damned Healer-Chapter 495: Fast Pace

Darian gently picked up Tir and Eleri. "Good job, take a break." He stored them in his inventory — the three of them had worked hard and were completely exhausted.

Then, he turned to Niara, who was at a distance. She understood his look and smiled, roaring toward the army. "Go, hurry up!"

Everyone snapped out of their daze and started running, crossing into the Ring of Death, now completely free of enemies.

Niara spread her wings and shot off in the opposite direction like lightning, disappearing beyond the horizon for a few minutes — until she came back, carrying a body on her back.

She landed near Darian, and he returned to his true body. Turning around, he grabbed the ethereal body, finally realizing the true potential of that weapon of his.

The body of a Spiritual Guardian in that universe was an extraordinary gift, crafted from the primordial bloodline of the Mannaz.

But this body of Darian's had received a lot of extra upgrades — elements of the highest level. In other words, it was an incredibly sharp and useful "weapon." He'd take it back to his universe, certain there'd be plenty of chances to make use of it.

Quickly, everyone moved through the Ring of Death, though they hadn't crossed it yet. Darian and Lucy guided them through all the fortresses and hidden spots there. Every enemy had been killed, and they left everything behind for the group to collect.

The army was split into four teams, heading toward the best areas to gather anything useful. Lucy went to the castles of the dead Kings, planning to study their training inscriptions.

Meanwhile, Darian and Niara went alone toward the entrance of the small world where the Divine Flame Of The Mind had been sealed earlier.

When they entered, Niara's eyes sparkled at the sight of the massive energy lake — it was a magnificent treasure.

"Get in the lake. The Divine Flame Of The Mind is still alive, with a small remnant of its soul, and it'll help you," Darian said seriously.

Niara nodded and dove in quickly. Darian nodded back, and a small rune appeared before him — one that no longer held even a trace of its flame. There was no power left, only the primordial heart.

"Thanks for the help. Without you, I wouldn't have made it," Darian said with a sigh.

That entity hadn't just given him all of its remaining power — it had sacrificed its life and soul as fuel to boost his mental strength. But Darian had asked it to stay alive, just so it could merge with Niara perfectly.

"Lord missionary, all five of us lived for countless years being tortured and trapped... at least at the end of our lives, we managed to free ourselves and vent some of our rage."

Darian nodded silently. Thanks to that entity's power, he'd managed to wipe out every White-Blooded one — even the Golden-Blooded one. You could say it was vengeance on its behalf.

"With your help, I'll free the other three. In the future, I'll end all the Risen and the Celestial Shadow. So you can rest easy and move on to your next life."

The small rune in his hands trembled slightly, then floated slowly toward Niara, who was submerged in the lake.

A bright light surrounded her, and Niara felt the rune sink into her draconic core. But that entity wouldn't just fuse with her — it had told Darian earlier that she could use the energy lake to nourish her body.

That was a trait passed down from a Primordial Dragon, though Niara didn't know how to use it. Dragons were the Gods of beasts, but they also had affinity with all kinds of energy and could devour them directly to grow stronger. Niara, who carried an absurd bloodline and the heritage of the Divine Dragon, could, with a little help, absorb all that natural energy into her body.

At that moment, Niara felt an intense heat, like she was submerged in a sea of lava. There was no pain — it was as if her muscles were swelling and heating up fast.

"Relax and get some sleep. I'm not leaving for a while," Darian's calm voice echoed.

Niara heard him, nodded faintly, and closed her eyes, letting the process take its course.

Meanwhile, Darian sat by the edge of the lake, exhaling deeply as he activated his domain. Around him, he felt a vast ocean of Power of Merit converging toward him.

No surprise — he'd wiped out a terrifying number of enemies, all allies of the Celestial Shadow.

Without hesitation, he directed it all to the rings on his forehead.

Several minutes of continuous absorption passed. Darian felt a bit tense — after all, from the fourth ring onward, the amount of Power of Merit needed to advance was absurd, multiplying several times with each new level.

Lucy, Lucius, and the Academy crew had spent ten years attacking Risen-infested planets across the galaxy. They cleared one planet every few days, then moved on to the next, and the next.

Each planet held thousands, sometimes millions, of them. Even so, they'd only reached seven rings.

On the other hand, the Power of Merit from those Darian had defeated was several times greater than that of a common Risen. When he absorbed about 95% of it all...

*Crack*

His five rings cracked and vibrated until a sixth ring formed around the others. A deep indigo aura flowed around Darian, leaving him thrilled.

Six rings... if before, with four, he was already tough to handle even for someone with nine — now, he had become truly terrifying. Not to mention that his three daggers had become even more powerful and incredible allies.

In other words, Darian's overall power had multiplied. Possibly, once he returned to Earth, he'd already have a good chance of defeating the enemy Emperors alone. With Niara by his side, those chances were practically guaranteed.

After finishing the absorption, Darian took a deep breath, reflecting.

Even if he killed every enemy in the third world — where possibly the largest number of them existed — he felt he still wouldn't reach seven rings. Maybe he'd get to 80% or 90%, but unfortunately, the amount needed was massive.

"Well... there'll be plenty of chances next time," he murmured, satisfied. As long as he kept up the pace, his progress was going just fine.

At that moment, he watched Niara floating over the lake, eyes closed, sleeping deeply.

Then, he felt his three allies waking up inside the inventory, fully recovered. He gestured, calling them out. The three daggers floated, and they activated their metamorphosis.

"Master, Master, what is this place?" Eleri asked excitedly.

Darian smiled. Whenever he had time, he wanted those three to go out and explore like they used to. His wish was to give them a life as close as possible to their old one.

"It's just a small world. Nothing too interesting here, but maybe outside there is," he said, pointing toward the exit.

Eleri smiled and ran toward the exit. Tir snorted and went after her — he had to make sure she didn't do anything reckless.

Awel, however, stayed in front of Darian, meeting his eyes softly.

"Master... when we were outside, and I merged with the atmosphere, I could feel and see everything in the other rings of this place easily. In that moment, I sensed something faint... there are more of our kind in this world."

Darian nodded, understanding. When he'd visited that other place — where he'd saved the World Tree in the past — he'd also heard rumors that Heavenly Elemental Spirits could be born there.

Back then, he'd even searched for them, but found nothing. Most likely, the Risen had already taken everything, and it took time for others to be born. So, it wasn't strange that they might exist here too.

"That's great. We'll look for them later," he replied.

Awel, though, looked thoughtful.

"But... it's weird. I didn't sense them living in the rings of life or death. It's like... something's hiding them really well. I don't know... it's as if..."

"They're probably inside a small space, hidden," Darian said, finishing her thought.

In King Stem's memories, Lucy had found some info about the other rings of death and life inside the Trunk World. Not all the White-Blooded ones of that race had agreed to side with the Celestial Shadow. There were always good people, no matter the race or place.

Naturally, those ones were hunted down and killed by their own kind. But thanks to that race's talent for learning how to control space-time, they found a way to avoid extinction.

They created tiny worlds — minuscule — and lived hidden inside them. Since it was extremely hard to find someone like that without knowing exactly where to look, they stayed relatively safe for a while.

However, the space only lasted a few days, and they had to make a new one somewhere else. And they couldn't live in there all the time either — it was just a small, empty space.

So, they'd always go out to gather resources or move. That's when they were hunted. But whenever they faced a life-or-death situation, many of them used the *Life Sacrifice Channel* to let the others escape.

That was the same method Darian and Lucy had used to steal the flame and escape — with King Stem's sacrifice.

By using those methods and living extremely harsh, resource-starved lives, the White-Blooded ones had survived heroically, without ever corrupting themselves.

Now, though, Darian felt a strong urge to find and help them. Even with all the hardship, were they still protecting the Heavenly Elemental Spirits? At least, he hoped so — praying they hadn't been used for something dark.

Awel stayed beside Darian, talking about how she felt regarding her new body — and also telling him what Tir and Eleri were feeling and had told her.

Darian felt like he was going back in time, remembering when he'd spend hours talking with that little girl. But this time, there was deep joy — because now she and the other two would always be nearby, and he could have those talks anytime he wanted.

...

After nearly six hours, the lake ahead was completely empty. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

The moment Niara opened her eyes was the last breath of that entity's life.

The first thing Niara saw was Darian, watching her closely, standing beside a smiling little girl.

The current Niara's skin glowed, radiating a magnetic, almost frightening charm. Darian's eyes scanned her, clearly surprised and unable to look away.

"The big lady looks way prettier now, huh?" Awel commented lightly. "Master, why are you staring at those two high spots? Did they get bigger, and I just didn't notice?"

Darian's eyes went wide, and he quickly looked away.

"Ahem... that's where her primordial core is. I was just... analyzing it."

Awel nodded, pretending to understand.

Niara stood up, looking at herself and feeling the changes, amazed. Her body had gone through a true rebirth. She could feel terrifying power flowing inside her, ready to burst out.

"Oh! Now I've got a glow and charm kinda like Dan's." Niara grinned, then looked straight at him, "You like it, huh? Thinking about changing your mind about that?"

She teased him, feeling refreshed. Darian snorted and turned away.

"Let's go, everyone's probably waiting. We've got a lot of work to do."

Niara smiled, noticing that he really had been shaken.

Then she turned to Awel and caught the mischievous smile on the girl's face. At that moment, Niara realized something surprising... was this little one pretending to be innocent around Darian?

No — Niara was sure of it. Awel knew *exactly* what she was saying and doing. And she was clearly helping her out a little.

The two exchanged silent glances, full of meaning.

Meanwhile, Darian stopped and called out to them again, sounding impatient. Both turned and waved, running back toward him.

He snorted, though inside, he was thrilled. Now he had six rings, and his power had multiplied several times. But Niara... her power had multiplied hundreds of times, evolving at a shockingly fast pace.