Damned Healer-Chapter 509: Never Disappointed Me
Darian's eyes focused on Niara, who was frozen in time. The day he first met her, he managed to see her recent painful past — just a half-dragon girl being tortured for a hundred years.
Then, the karma she received from the deaths of the people used to nurture her added another dark, heavy layer on top of her.
Darian couldn't be sure that all of that came from a single life. That new layer created in her current life made him wrongly believe it was all recent. But in truth, she carried almost everything from a distant era and, even after living many lives, she wasn't even close to burning it all away.
"Well, now that you understand. Let's get to the solution." The dry voice of that figure pulled Darian out of his stupor.
"When that idiot tried to devour the Immortal Chaos Essence of this universe and failed, there was no going back, and she only had two options. Force the universe to be absorbed, destroying it completely... like some Spiritual Sovereigns do. Or try to stabilize it again, risking dying or damaging it forever."
"Even though she was a spoiled idiot, she wasn't truly evil or malicious. Even having the power to do it, she'd never destroy this universe. So she chose to sacrifice a large part of her own existence to stabilize it completely... and that's what left her severely injured after everything happened."
The figure paused and looked straight into Darian's eyes, serious.
"In short, she took 70% of everything she had and left it inside the Immortal Chaos Essence. Since a Primordial Beast is born from the laws of a universe, she was the perfect nourishment for that core to stabilize perfectly. But in the end, it only needed 90% of what was left there. The rest still remains untouched inside."
"The only solution to the current situation is to send Niara into the Immortal Chaos Essence and have her absorb it. Since a bit of her power remains there, she can connect and absorb it easily; the proof is that she's fighting her old body and instinctively suppressing its Bloodline."
"B-but, shouldn't that be impossible for someone mortal like her?" Darian asked, tense and surprised.
"Indeed. But with that leftover power being reabsorbed by her, her soul will undergo an atavism and become something similar to yours — a near-immortal in-between. That alone gives... maybe a 0.5% chance of her succeeding. And that's not counting that the collective consciousness of the universe must accept her. You can also try to do it right now, but I think she has far higher chances."
Darian swallowed hard. Niara had to be accepted first, which even when she was a Primordial Dragon, she failed at... and even if she succeeded, she still only had a 0.5% chance of pulling it off? Combining both things, the real chance was so ridiculous that it was better to just call it impossible.
"What's wrong? Don't you trust the woman you accepted as your wife?" The voice sounded calm, staring at him.
"I trust her as much as I trust myself." Darian replied, then huffed, "Well, she doesn't need to know complicated things like chances. That's my job. I'll just tell her she needs to do it and explain things directly. She's never disappointed me in my infinites, and she's always done everything perfectly..."
In the end, he smiled faintly. How could someone who once was a Primordial Dragon, who created and ruled a universe for countless years, have trouble doing anything?
Of course, if she let her instincts take over, she'd do anything easily. That was always her, and he simply accepted it when he met her, without thinking much about it.
"Great." The eyes of the figure glimmered subtly in approval. "I didn't just come here to tell you a story. This ethereal body of yours was created in a peculiar way with Draconic Bloodline. I can sacrifice it to create a channel leading out of here, directly to where the Immortal Chaos Essence is. This channel will stay open for... maybe half an hour. If she manages to do everything perfectly, this opens many new possibilities for her, right?"
Darian took a deep breath and nodded. If Niara really managed it, she would gain some new abilities...! His eyes widened with a new thought. If this was truly possible, everything would change completely.
"I don't have much time left." The figure's voice sounded calm.
Darian answered with a steady voice: "Thank you for the help. If this body of mine can give us a huge opportunity, use it. Leave the rest to us."
"I hope you succeed. This is partly my fault anyway." The voice sounded emotionless. Then, time began to move again.
*BOOOOM!*
Niara and the Corrupted Dragon clashed violently once more.
But this time, Niara was sent flying back several meters, spitting blood. She was practically out of energy to keep fighting. Her berserker mode was already starting to disperse, her rationality returning.
'Niara, listen carefully.' Darian's voice sounded in her mind at that exact moment.
'I need you to come back and enter a channel. It'll take you to where this universe's Immortal Chaos Essence is. For us to win, you need to fuse with it, just like the Spiritual Guardians who became immortals do.'
'Alright.' Her voice sounded completely unconcerned. She trusted that if Darian said she could do it, then it was possible.
'When you get there, you'll find a power left behind by the Divine Dragon in the past. That's a gift for you, which you must absorb first, and with that you'll be able to fuse with the Immortal Chaos Essence.' He continued seriously: 'It won't be easy, because the consciousness of the universe has to accept you. You've wanted to save this universe your whole life, so now you have to show your will.'
'I'll make it, trust me. Just... you're gonna have to fight here without me for a bit.' Her voice sounded full of worry as she watched that colossal creature roar fiercely, ready to attack her again.
Niara clenched her fists and burned the last remnants of power she had all at once.
Their conversation lasted less than ten seconds. Darian gave very simple, direct instructions without explaining much, because he knew that woman well. The two of them understood each other easily and trusted one another.
In that instant, an intense green light burst from the ground.
Everyone watching tensely turned toward it, then saw that ethereal body of Darian exhale a frightening energy.
The whole environment trembled, as if something that shouldn't exist was manifesting right in front of them.
Darian looked at that body of his one last time. He had gone through a lot using it, and it had been extremely useful in many situations; but unfortunately, it was going to disappear completely.
The eyes of that body turned to Darian and, seeing his confidence, that figure huffed one last time.
**BANG!!**
The moment Niara clashed one last time against the Corrupted Dragon, a spatial distortion appeared, creating a small, pulsing, and stable spatial channel.
Niara shot down from the sky toward the ground. Darian immediately moved, catching her in the air before the impact.
He held her, feeling the broken scales and the total absence of strength in her. Like that, he couldn't avoid remembering the past and everything she had to live through.
For sure, after having her soul revived and reincarnated, she didn't have a single life that could've been even minimally happy. She was always swallowed and thrown into terrible situations. Actually, she even died in this current life, and if Darian hadn't acted fast to revive her, she would've ended tragically just like the others.
"Dan... why are you so emotional? I won't fail, I promise." Niara murmured softly while hugging him, feeling that emotion flowing from him.
He looked at her with his face very close to hers. Then he smiled slightly, landing in front of the channel.
"I know you'll make it. But you only have half an hour to do it and come back."
Darian gently set her down on the ground, then saw a new shine appear in her eyes. And of course, she knew he was hiding something, but she wasn't going to ask now, since it probably wasn't relevant.
"Half an hour? I'll be back in ten minutes." She spoke confidently and turned, entering quickly.
Darian watched her leave with a faint smile, then turned back to the sky. There, a colossal figure pulsed, exuding immense corruption and power.
He gestured, and three glowing daggers appeared, floating around him.
At the same time, he huffed, and an even stronger light pulsed around his body.
Darian's natural red eyes locked with the corrupted red eyes of that creature.
"Come on, now it's just you and me."
With a leap, he shot upward like lightning.
In response, a loud and absurdly terrifying roar echoed through the skies, making everyone behind them feel their souls almost leaving their bodies.
