Damned Healer-Chapter 538: Why The Rush?

The Golem God's Temple was on the southern border of the planet, more specifically at the center of a region full of desolate mountains and empty lakes. It was a vast area stretching for dozens of kilometers, and right at its center, there was a small stone temple, simple and without any special details.

This whole region was sealed by an absolute power, where no one could get close.

Even Aurix, after becoming an Immortal and becoming one with this whole universe, had immense difficulty entering. It took him almost a full year, moving one step at a time through the region, until he finally reached the temple.

But inside the temple itself, he only had time to take a quick look; because he felt he'd really die if he went too far.

Even when this region opened to the outside world, only the area outside the small stone temple could be accessed. The Heavenly Tribulation happened for about an hour, striking the whole ground and creating life. After that, for one year, everything remained open; until it was sealed again for another 300 years.

On the morning of the marked day, nearly a thousand figures forming a large army were waiting nearby. Then they saw the massive protection disperse.

Among them, 80% were humans, all from the Wube family, people born on Earth between 7 and 9 rings. The rest came from planets ruled by the three Spiritual Sovereigns, sent to ensure everything would go exactly as planned.

From these humans, if everything went well, the Spiritual Sovereigns hoped at least 10 of them would become Immortal. It was already a very optimistic estimate; but even if half succeeded, it'd already be enough.

They all moved together, entering the temple's outer region.

The air there was still, the weather cold, and everything was extremely quiet. It was the literal calm before the storm.

At that moment, the leader stepped forward. He was a short man who looked a lot like a human; but his eyes had a very different glow, and his whole body emitted a faint silver aura. Anyone, even without any power, could tell he was far from human.

He was an Alv, from the planet Grandmist, the number one in the Universe of Heaven's Will. He spoke in a monotone voice:

"Spread out with your groups. Darian will definitely come, but he won't be able to do anything during the tribulation. When everything ends, that's when the real battle begins. But don't worry about saving energy, because you won't need to fight. Focus completely on absorbing the maximum benefits from the tribulation. Everything has already been meticulously prepared for the final show."

Everyone nodded excitedly. They split up and spread across the whole outer region of the temple; this way, the power of the tribulation each one absorbed would be as high as possible.

Minutes passed.

**BUZZ!**

Suddenly, the sky and the earth shook. The sky, once sunny and cloudless, darkened immediately with pitch-black clouds.

Thunder roared, and lightning flashed. Everything within kilometers was swallowed by darkness as if it were a night without moon or stars.

People felt their souls trembling in terror; an infinite oppressive force weighed on them, like the most terrifying thing from their worst nightmares, trying to devour them. They realized instantly that they couldn't move even a centimeter; they couldn't even blink.

Since most of them were humans from the Wube family, they never imagined they'd feel such overwhelming terror. Their rational minds were completely crushed, with their survival instincts begging them to run.

"FOCUS!" the Alv leader's voice echoed, snapping everyone out of their stupor.

"This is the World's Laws suppressing mortals below them. You must resist with your wills, or you'll really die!"

Everyone heard him and swallowed hard. This was only a Heavenly Tribulation, yet they already felt smaller than ants beneath it.

The black clouds in the sky were getting denser, and the lightning bolts more concentrated.

Suddenly, the sky became completely silent.

Lightning bolts several meters wide dropped beneath all the dark clouds, like white spears frozen in place and aimed at them. When they felt that power, it felt like a force wanting to wipe out all life without mercy.

Everyone felt their hearts pounding like drums; that was the only sound echoing in the air.

"..."

In that extremely tense moment...

Everyone suddenly heard fast, heavy footsteps making the ground shake.

Their stiff faces turned in one single direction. Then... they saw an army of thousands of Golems appear.

Their eyes changed. In front of the Golems, they saw an army of two hundred Spiritual Guardians. But... the highlight was, without a doubt, a radiant figure at the front.

He floated in the air, radiating a thick, attention-grabbing aura filled with rainbow colors. The whole dark and tense atmosphere seemed to be illuminated by his glow.

Darian smiled.

Everyone saw that smile and noticed a sinister gleam in his red eyes. In that moment...

...everyone felt their hearts stop. It was as if all the danger coming from the heavens had been nothing but a joke, now that he had arrived.

Darian's aura suddenly changed. In his hands, a dagger pulsed with a strong force of the wind element.

Everything happened really fast. In five seconds, the entire army of Golems and Spiritual Guardians arrived. The next instant, without any hesitation...

Darian leapt upward.

Darian's dagger slashed. A huge blade of wind shot out... not at that army, but at the heavenly tribulation clouds in the sky!

"What?!"

That Alv leader and all the most experienced ones were completely shocked. Someone dared attack the tribulation clouds? That was the same as becoming an enemy of the World Laws. Was he challenging the heavens?

**BOOM!!**

The tribulation clouds split open, thundering intensely and shaking people's ears until it felt like they were being stabbed. Everyone went deaf, unable to hear anything else.

The world trembled, and the ground cracked. It felt like space itself was being crushed.

Everyone's eyes widened... this time, there wasn't a single person who wasn't feeling an apocalyptic suppression coming from the heavens. They had never experienced such terrifying fear.

This was the fury of the World Laws.

A fury capable of destroying the world itself.

"H-Heavenly Punishment..." that Alv leader stammered with a pale expression.

Heavenly tribulations could only be endured, not fought. That was a principle that had never changed since the beginning of time. But today, Darian deliberately challenged them; forcing them to rise to the next level... one thousands of times more powerful and deadly.

The most terrifying aspect of this Heavenly Punishment was that, in that instant, the destructive power turned toward every single one of them. They became the targets of the Heavenly Punishment; everyone in a vast area on this planet was affected. Meaning, even if they wanted to escape, it was impossible.

"Y-you bastard..." the Alv said with a trembling voice.

He had never felt so close to death in his entire life. Then he remembered some information accumulated on his planet, coming from universes where cultivators existed and constantly faced the fury of the heavens.

There was very little information about this, but there was a simple principle everyone knew.

A Tribulation is like a test for mortals, where the laws leave many lifelines for people to cling to and survive. The Heavenly Punishment was the opposite, made to kill *one person* without giving any chance...

"Kill him quickly! Or we're all going to die!"

That Alv shouted with all his strength. If the main target of the Punishment was killed, the fury of the heavens would diminish to almost nothing.

"Oh? Why the rush?" Darian's calm and ironic voice echoed, making everyone clench their teeth with all their strength.

All those few who had come from the three planets commanded by the Spiritual Sovereigns snapped out of their stupor. They then drew their secret weapons, prepared to deal with Darian at the end of everything. Now, they had no choice but to use them.

But...

At that very moment, they all felt a bad premonition. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

It was the sensation of death embracing them and freezing their souls.

*Slash!!*

Before they could even think... they saw the black clouds opening, with a massive blade splitting them in half.

At the center of that slash, they could see sunlight again.

**KBOOOOOM!**

A violent sound made everyone's ears bleed.

The pressure on them increased so much that their bones and bodies began to crack; those with weaker bodies fell to their knees, feeling their bodies breaking.

The world closed again. The darkness was so dense now that they couldn't even see their own hands in front of their eyes.

"NO…!"

Some people began exploding into a mist of blood, only the brutal sound and their final screams could be heard.

Not a single lightning bolt had fallen so far.

But...

"A-an... an... annihilation... H-heavenly annihilation!" that Alv leader shouted hysterically.

He knew it too. A Heavenly Annihilation was the moment when the world laws threw away any rules. It was when the world itself wanted, at any cost, to erase a target from existence... even if it meant destroying everything in exchange.