Damned Healer-Chapter 529: Blessed Race

It was the start of the day on a massive planet, where the extreme gravity had carved mountains of unheard-of height and dense forests whose trees pierced through the clouds.

The biggest singularity of that place, though, was its defense: the vast and dense Sky-Blue Veil that surrounded it completely. That hypnotic, glowing mist acted as an impenetrable energy barrier, isolating the planet from any external contact.

On that day, however, the powerful Veil started trembling and becoming noticeably thinner.

*BUZZ*

At that exact moment, a tiny spatial distortion appeared near the planet.

The fissure expanded quickly until it reached three meters, revealing itself as a spatial channel connected to a point very, very far away.

A lone figure emerged from the rift, shooting toward the planet's surface without hesitation.

A few minutes later, the same channel tore open even more, and from it hundreds of figures began to appear. In a mass descent, they crossed the sky-blue barrier with ease.

***

Days went by slowly.

Inside the massive planet, the atmosphere was now completely different from just a few days earlier. Everything was darker, and the air seemed to radiate an extreme sense of danger.

In the middle of the night, inside a dense forest at the center of the planet, a figure moved silently through the shadows.

Darian had been on that planet for days, searching for the natives. But to his surprise, he couldn't find them, even with his curse capable of sensing the karma of any living being.

He had searched everywhere. After crossing two mountains, he suddenly stopped.

He heard hurried movement nearby. He rushed toward the sound and, suddenly, saw two figures running ahead of him. He immediately hid behind a large tree.

Darian let out a relieved sigh — he had finally found them. It was a couple, extremely young, looking around fifteen or sixteen by human standards.

But they weren't human. They had humanoid bodies, but instead of clothes, parts of their bodies were covered by silver metal plates. That wasn't armor: it was part of them.

They were Golems. After being born from the earth, they gathered the nearby materials — rocks and metals — to form their first body, then went out into the world. Later, in universes rich in power, they could cultivate a new physical form, turning into something hybrid with flesh and bone if they wished.

Having a body partially made of flesh and bone removed a big part of their defensive power, but granted them more agility, as well as the ability to study and practice things that would be impossible with a body fully connected to the Earth.

Still, having a body completely made of rocks and metals had huge advantages. For example, being able to merge with the ground and simply sleep... that way, their power slowly increased with zero effort and without losing life force. In the end, some Golems chose to remain in their natural form, and others didn't.

Back to the present. The two young Golems were clearly panicking as they fled for their lives. A layer of light covered their bodies.

Darian noticed that light wasn't one of their techniques, but some kind of curse that drained their energy.

"Thulon, run! I'll block them!" the female Golem suddenly stopped.

"What kind of joke is that? How could I let you block them for me?!" the male Golem growled. He pulled her along and kept running.

At that moment, Darian saw five figures approaching fast. They were beast-like creatures using metamorphosis to look humanoid.

Darian narrowed his eyes. They were Spiritual Guardians, all with seven rings. That light on the two Golems had to be a blessing from one of them.

The female Golem spoke melancholically, "We can't release our power. If this keeps going, neither of us will be able to escape. I—"

"Stop wasting words! Even if we have to die, we'll have to die together. If I let you die, even if I survive, it'll be a life worse than death!", the male Golem said firmly.

Their speed was clearly inferior to the five Spiritual Guardians. It was obvious they wouldn't be able to escape. Until the male Golem suddenly stopped, unsheathed a sword, and stood in front of the female.

She also drew a sword. Darian noticed they were weapons made of low-quality fused metals — probably the work of a Golem who just gathered the material into something roughly shaped like a blade, without any proper forging technique.

Darian focused his senses on the two...

In the past, in his first mission as a Spiritual Guardian, he had met a Golem in another universe. That Golem said his race was blessed by the Golem God and that, from birth, they were never alone. (Chapter 96/97)

Now, Darian understood why he couldn't sense their karma. Those Golems had the same protection a missionary received from Heaven's Will. Darian couldn't see or feel anything in their souls — not even their karma.

People only sensed Darian's rings when he circulated their power; aside from that, everything about him stayed hidden. These Golems were just like him.

"Hahaha, our luck is really excellent!" one of the Spiritual Guardians laughed.

"You damned invaders, die!"

The Golem man roared, then furiously attacked. A bright yellow light burst out, and his sword slashed with incredible speed.

However, Darian sighed. That was just a flashy attack. It looked good, but it had no substance. The young man's movements were far too rigid. With a single glance, Darian could tell the guy had zero real combat experience.

One of the Spiritual Guardians' weapons lunged straight toward the Golem's head. He simply ignored that ridiculous attack.

The young Golem widened his eyes and pulled his offensive strike back to defend himself.

*CRACK!*

In terms of combat experience, he was unbelievably lacking. With a single strike, the Spiritual Guardian forced him to retreat.

As for the female Golem, she moved quickly and tried to strike to support him. But even with the two of them together, they were repeatedly pushed back by a single enemy. The other four simply watched with mocking expressions.

The Spiritual Guardian could've defeated them in a few moves, but he wasn't in a hurry. Instead, he was forcing them to counterattack.

"You bastards!" The young Golem realized they wouldn't win and suddenly swung his sword toward the woman's neck.

Darian was surprised, but immediately understood that he wanted to kill her to prevent her from being humiliated by those five. It was clear he intended to kill himself right after.

"Hehe, how could dying be that easy?" the Spiritual Guardian mocked.

His sword suddenly slashed and broke the Golem man's sword. One of his allies also stepped in, and they quickly subdued the two.

"They're really weak." One of them spat on the ground with disdain.

"If we weren't limited, how could you possibly defeat us!?" The captured Golem man roared in hatred. He looked like a cornered wolf, ready to attack his captors at any moment.

"What? This is part of my power; would it be fair if I asked you to remove your metal parts?" the Spiritual Guardian said with a ridiculing look. "Well, whatever. We're not killing you now; if you want to live... we might even let you go... but you're gonna have to help us a little, understood?"

"FUCK YOU! We're not helping you find our brothers, you piece of trash!"

The Golem man roared furiously. His veins bulged, and he struggled, but he was being restrained by two Spiritual Guardians and couldn't escape.

"Hehe... fine. We'll have a long time together, until you decide to talk. Or..." The Spiritual Guardian's gaze turned to the female Golem.

She understood what he meant. Then, in a swift move, she spat in his face.

*Slap!*

That Spiritual Guardian landed a vicious slap across her face. The force of the hit caved her face in instantly. Blood burst out, and her beautiful face became completely deformed.

But she ignored the pain and kept fighting with all her strength. The nearby Golem man also kept struggling, lost in despair.

When one of the Spiritual Guardians drew a black dagger with a sadistic smile on his face...

"Hey, has this been tested on Golems? Their bodies are only half flesh, you know..."

Suddenly, a lazy voice sounded right beside that Spiritual Guardian. His body stiffened instantly, and he turned around in a rush.

"!"

At some unknown moment, a handsome man dressed in a black robe had appeared silently, like a specter had crawled out from hell.

His long green hair was loose, swaying gently, while his red eyes had a unique glow.

The five Spiritual Guardians immediately felt their body hair stand on end. It was as if a bucket of freezing water had been dumped on them, and the cold was so intense they started trembling.

It was a terrifying, primal feeling, like a premonition of their own death, very close. It left them consumed by fear.

The Golem man and woman managed to slip from their captors and ran to the side.

The Spiritual Guardians completely ignored them, staring in terror at that man.

One of them stuttered, "D... D-Darian..."