Damned Healer-Chapter 496: Many Opportunities

As soon as they left that small world, Darian went to where Lucy was, together with everyone else. As soon as he arrived, Zelkov came running, looking excited.

"Boss, in all four castles there were tons of natural resources stored up — and lots of food too."

"Oh! Let's go, let's go!" Niara said, excited.

Darian nodded. Lucy seemed completely immersed in her study of the inscriptions and would take a while, so everyone who had already searched and gathered what was available could take the chance to relax a bit.

Everyone gathered, started eating, and began to calm down. The people who had arrived in that world first had suffered heavy losses. Most of the humans Cyaos had brought from his universe had sacrificed themselves to save those closest to Darian. Because of that, almost everyone from his clan and from the planet Vadise survived.

Darian was deep in thought, worried. He saw Veyle in a corner, her expression empty, being comforted by the clan members. She had survived, but Lucius had lost the right to come to that world. And now, Darian felt he owed a lot to those who had died. When he reached the third world, where Cyaos was — having eight rings — he'd have to face him and take responsibility for those losses.

Before returning to this universe, he had believed himself to be far stronger and more experienced — he thought he'd handle things better than before. But in the very first minute, everything had already been turned upside down.

Even inside that array, many had died without him being able to do anything. His mind was heavy. When he went back, he needed to find a way to help them.

"Master! Master!"

In the middle of his thoughts, a cheerful voice rang out, and a smiling little girl came running toward him. Darian turned his head in her direction — and his eyes widened.

Eleri was holding a bright blue crystal almost her own size, raising it above her head. The crystal made the entire area take on a faint bluish tone. Behind her were Tir and Awel, looking excited.

Darian was stunned. That huge crystal pulsed with a terrifying water power.

"Where did you find that?" he asked.

"Tir found it! It looks amazing to me, I feel like I can eat it and get stronger," Eleri said quickly, staring at Darian expectantly.

Seeing her cheerful smile, Darian sighed, setting his worries aside. A warmth rose in his chest, making him sure that everything would be fine.

He snorted and activated his senses, focusing on the crystal.

"Hmm... seems like it's just...!"

His eyes widened. That wasn't just condensed water element — it was something as incredibly pure as the primordial Yin and Yang he had found in that other world.

Tir murmured, "Master, I feel like there's more of this stuff in several specific places. I can go look for them and dig them up."

Darian nodded, surprised. "It must've been created from the *Seed of Life* — the treasure of the Trunk World."

That treasure was similar to the Dragon Vein of the Root World, but the Seed of Life had a different kind of power: it could help any place, even under minimal conditions, generate complex life forms more easily.

It radiated vital power, making even the simplest organisms multiply and evolve. It was something that only existed at the dawn of a universe, on the first planets where everything began.

He and Lucy hadn't found any memories about it in the King's recollections, so he asked Tir for more details about where he'd found the crystal.

"It was at the bottom of a river, buried more than five kilometers underground. Master, even Eleri, who's connected to this thing, didn't sense it until I mentioned it. I doubt anyone else besides me could've found it."

Darian nodded, even more impressed. That crystal had to be extremely rare, and very few people in the Trunk World probably knew anything about it. Finding one was just a matter of pure luck — that's why almost no one knew they existed.

So, most of these crystals that had appeared over the millennia were probably still buried somewhere.

"Eleri, if you think you can absorb it, go ahead."

Her eyes lit up when she heard his confirmation. Eleri transformed back into a dagger and pierced the crystal with a sharp sound. Within seconds, all the light from the stone disappeared.

"Tir, do you sense any others in this ring of death?" Darian asked.

Tir shook his head. "Seems pretty rare. I don't sense anything here, nor in the previous ring of life. But I can detect some faint fluctuations underground in the next ring of life."

"Good. Then rest for now. We'll head there soon," Darian replied, turning toward Eleri.

Her energy had completely changed. He held her and noticed she'd entered a deep meditative state. She had absorbed everything from the crystal — and was now completely full.

***

Six hours later, Lucy came out of one of the castles with a satisfied look on her face. When she saw Darian, she spoke quickly:

"Bro, I figured it out! It's a really peculiar inscription for nutrition and training. I've never seen those runes before, and they looked organized in such a specific and amazing way... maybe—no, definitely this isn't something created by people of this race. Maybe Enfield got it somewhere else and left it with them?"

Darian didn't know the answer — maybe only Enfield himself did. But it seemed that thing was even more impressive than he'd imagined, judging by Lucy's excitement.

Lucy explained, "I feel like, if I make some changes using artifacts from our universe, I could create a training room that helps anyone absorb any type of energy."

"We'll run some tests later. For now, let's keep moving," Darian said casually, and she nodded.

At that moment, the whole army started moving toward the third ring of that world — the second ring of life.

As soon as they stepped into it, the one-day timer of the array must've started. The fourth ring was another ring of death, but Darian knew that the main power of those with White Blood had been concentrated exactly in that previous ring of death.

In the other two, there were only small cities, mostly used as training grounds for the weaker ones. All the stronger ones — about sixty percent of the entire army — had been killed by him in that battle.

"We've got one day," Darian turned to everyone. "Let's split into two groups. Tir will lead all of you to find the other crystals."

Everyone nodded. Awel, Lucy and her partner, along with Niara, were going with Darian on another important mission.

The rest moved out quickly, with Tir coordinating them.

Darian turned to Awel.

She nodded, pointing east. "I can feel it faintly... just the direction. Maybe once we're closer, I can tell more precisely."

Darian nodded, and they all started moving together.

Awel was sensing the presence of the other Heavenly Elemental Spirits in that direction. She'd probably only be able to tell they were somewhere in a wide area — after all, they were hidden inside space itself.

But when they reached an empty plain, Awel looked confused and thoughtful. Then she activated her full power and merged with the atmosphere. That way, she could sense even the tiniest fluctuations perfectly.

It took only a few minutes before she appeared again. "Master, I'm sorry... I can only tell they're somewhere further north." 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Darian gently patted her head. "That's more than enough, good job," he said, turning to Lucy.

She nodded in understanding. Just like before, she could sense the space — simply knowing the general region where they were hiding was already enough.

Niara watched everything with excitement. Darian was using all the skills of those around him to get the most out of every situation, wasting no opportunity.

They moved north, just as Awel had indicated. Then...

"There!" Lucy pointed confidently.

Darian gave a small smile and nodded, activating his domain. Indeed, there was an entrance in space right there.

*Buzz*

The space split open, and then—

"!"

Everyone's eyes widened.

As soon as it opened, the energy inside started to leak out. Then... a wave of energy burst through the opening — everyone immediately felt it, shocked, because it was something they'd never expected to find.

"Miasma! The Risen!" Niara roared, consumed by fury.