Damned Healer-Chapter 536: Altar of the Golem God

Everyone in the Tribe who could fight ran at full speed after receiving the distress call.

Darian went with them, but unfortunately, they didn’t have any long-distance mobility inscriptions. Those would emit powerful fluctuations even when deactivated, which would end up being detected by the invaders, so they never built any for safety.

The trip would take at least an hour, even going as fast as possible. On the way, the Tribe Leader explained things to Darian mentally.

Inside the tribes’ territory, during the time the temple was open, it was the only place where the Golems could use their secret technique at full power. Their strength became several times higher that way, but outside of it, they only had a tiny trace of Gaia’s help. But that didn’t mean the invaders would never attack them.

It had already happened before, when a group of Spiritual Guardians found the location of a tribe and attacked it. But almost all the invaders were killed in retaliation.

After that, the Golems felt confident: the invaders wouldn’t be crazy enough to attack again... until, six hundred years later, another tribe was attacked, completely destroyed this time.

So that was the pattern: one victory and one defeat. It hadn’t happened again in a long time, but every Golem Tribe created concealment mechanisms to keep their territories hidden.

Unfortunately, the Spiritual Guardians didn’t actually need to attack the tribes to destroy them. They stopped trying to assault the territories because it was stupid; it was much easier to wait for the temple opening, when the Golems were weaker.

They’d be forced to come out. Every tribe had to fight to save the lives of the new Golems that would be born. That’s why, over the years, out of the 63 Golem Tribes that once existed on that planet, only 3 were still around today.

The tribe Darian had met was called the Rare Earth Tribe, the largest among the last three.

During the journey, Darian could’ve tried moving faster with Awel, but he could only do that alone, and the entrances to the Tribes couldn’t be reached by him alone.

According to the Tribe Leader, the inscription they created used the power of the secret technique to seal the place inside its own space. It was as if the territory didn’t exist, making it impossible for anyone to reach it normally, even knowing where it was.

The only way to enter was having a Golem who knew where the entrance was and could open it using the secret technique’s power.

Darian could only regret it. The ones who attacked Thulon and Thulya seemed to be trying to figure out where their territory was and then use them to get in. Possibly, another Golem had been captured and tortured until leading them to this other Tribe.

Everyone ran in distress until they finally reached a region full of volcanoes. Darian used his senses to the limit, but didn’t detect anything in the vast area.

The Tribe Leader ran into a hidden cave and activated the perfectly concealed entrance there.

Everyone rushed forward and entered the spatial distortion.

When their vision returned...

"NO!"

They found a land completely ruined and destroyed. The world was filled with a dense aura of death, the ground covered with Golem corpses. The houses... the trees... almost everything had been wiped out.

Darian narrowed his eyes. Then his senses expanded.

His eyes changed. He took a single step and vanished.

On the opposite side of where they arrived, he found two figures digging in the ground, searching for the last remaining traces of treasures.

They seemed rushed, but still determined to look a bit longer. Then...

Their bodies froze. Their eyes bulged.

A layer of ice covered them as the earth under their feet moved, locking them in place. There was no time to react: in one second, a figure appeared behind them and placed his hands on the back of their necks.

Chaos power invaded them, sealing their rings and powers completely. But they were still alive and conscious.

Darian snorted coldly. With a flick, he threw both of them onto the ground, face up.

They stared at Darian, unable to move, and obviously recognized him.

"I’ll be straight," Darian’s voice was hoarse and harsh. "I want to know who did this and how."

He already knew everyone else had fled, leaving only these two unlucky ones behind. Darian didn’t wait for them to answer; with a motion, a dark rune appeared.

He watched both of them, sensing through their fluctuations which one was the more cowardly. Then he placed the rune on the other one.

Far away, all the Golems, devastated by the scene, suddenly stopped walking. They heard screams so horrifying that their expressions tightened.

They ran in that direction thinking they’d find enemies, but when they arrived, they saw Darian holding by the neck a completely dead body. The face of that corpse had an absolutely twisted and horrifying expression.

Darian tossed the body aside.

Then his red eyes focused on the other man. That look felt like the guy’s worst nightmare.

"I went really easy on that one. But you... I’ll do way worse, and I won’t let you die until you tell me everything. I can give you a quick death, or..."

"I-I’ll talk! I’ll talk!" the man roared in desperation.

The Tribe Leader heard everything as well. Almost a thousand Spiritual Guardians, all linked by a single goal, had come fully prepared. They were given the best Supreme Artifacts and every possible resource to succeed.

Besides the tribulation inside the temple, the earth hearts of the Golems could be used to make pills. Those pills increased the body’s resistance to the Heavenly Punishment they would face in the future.

When they arrived on the planet, they spread out and hunted the Golems, equipped with things that would make them talk. That way, in less than two days, they found one who could lead them to this tribe.

They invaded, sacrificing several Supreme Artifacts to prevent the Golems from reacting. That’s why the surprise attack started fast and ended just as fast. Within minutes, they killed everyone and took what they wanted.

That was because they knew other tribes could come to help, and their other Supreme Artifacts only worked properly when used by surprise.

These two idiots chose to risk a bit more. They had their blessings and artifacts, and they specialized in running away; they were sure they could escape quickly if needed.

"Everyone from your alliance and the Wube family joined in, right?" Darian asked coldly.

"Yes. Everyone was ordered to act together. If you tried to intervene, we’d be able to face you..."

Darian snorted icily. Then he waved his hand, and a dagger flew, piercing the man’s chest.

Eleri devoured all the life of that man, who belonged to a beast-like race with great vitality. The man agonized for a few minutes and then died; it wasn’t even close to what happened to the other one.

Darian took a deep breath, trying to control himself.

He turned to the Tribe Leader, who was nearby. "You’re in contact with the other tribe, right? Tell them about this, or the disaster might repeat itself."

After speaking, he looked around with a melancholic expression. Why did things have to be like this?

Maybe, if he hadn’t wasted time going to that tribe, he would’ve discovered this plan somewhere else and prevented so many deaths...

All of this only happened because those three Spiritual Sovereigns wanted maximum profit to create immortals on Earth and defeat him. They didn’t hesitate to burn high-quality Supreme Artifacts to achieve that right now. In the end, Darian felt that part of the blame was also his.

"Sir..." The leader’s voice pulled Darian out of his daze. He turned to that old Golem.

"The altar is still intact. Please, come with me."

Darian was confused, but seeing the seriousness in his expression, he followed him to the center of that place.

Just like in the other tribe, there was an altar for the Golem God there. It was half broken; apparently, the invaders checked it and felt there was nothing good in it.

The Tribe Leader said in a trembling voice, "Sir, all 63 tribes had an altar. In them, we kept the mark of the Golem God. Fortunately, the invaders never discovered that our altars contain this. Since only three tribes remain, we recovered everything, and each tribe kept 21 of them."

Darian nodded, still not understanding.

The Tribe Leader took a deep breath and touched the center of the altar. Then a strong yellowish light lit up. Soon, 21 small runes appeared and floated.

Darian narrowed his eyes; he’d never seen anything like those runes. They seemed connected to the earth element, but they carried a completely different feeling.

"Sir, could you try connecting to them?" the Tribe Leader asked seriously.

Darian nodded and extended his hand. He was curious to feel them.

Then...

Suddenly, the runes trembled and moved toward Darian.

"!"

He almost jumped; the runes entered him before he could react. They settled inside his Dantian and just stayed there, without any reaction.

Darian turned to the Tribe Leader, confused. At that moment, he saw the old Golem’s eyes trembling as he stared at him.

"The Herald... yes... he has finally arrived!" the leader roared and knelt; everyone around trembled as they understood those words.

"The King has finally arrived!"