Damned Healer-Chapter 557: Just For Fun
Darian, Niara, and Alear moved at the front of everyone, slowly. They took one step at a time with calm expressions and no discomfort at all. Meanwhile, most of the people behind them were drenched in sweat, their focus completely on taking their next step.
Even those who were more relaxed still had to put in at least some effort. Seeing how indifferent the three of them were, everyone’s expressions changed.
Even if the trio technically belonged to the same group, it was still a painful insult to see them completely fine. And the worst part was feeling Alear’s immense vitality and youth. Compared to their age, she was basically a newborn, yet she clearly looked bored.
They had no idea Alear’s physique was almost comparable to that of a Primordial Beast. She still couldn’t use even 5% of it properly, but no mortal could compare to her potential.
Besides that, she went through a strict and terrifying training under her three adoptive mothers. Only them—after all, Darian and Lucius didn’t have the courage to train her; they couldn’t handle watching her suffer.
Ever since she awakened, Alear worked day and night so Darian would approve of her and take her along. His standards for her were even higher than for his most talented allies.
Standing side by side with death was normal for her, though Darian was always watching her every step. He would never actually let her die, but she didn’t know that, and she constantly felt like she was about to.
In short, her will was pretty solid. But obviously, her terrifying physique made up 99% of it.
...
After advancing for twelve hours, a faint barrier appeared in front of the group.
That was the mark of the second test line. So, Darian, Niara, and Alear crossed it without hesitation.
From everyone behind, only a bit more than two thousand managed to pass. Six hundred were Spiritual Guardians, the rest were Rainbow Cranes. The others felt their minds spin and their souls burn in pain when they tried to enter, having no choice but to retreat.
Darian told them not to be impatient. The worst thing that could happen was getting hurt because of some reckless stubbornness.
If they spent a few more days tempering themselves in the first line, they would eventually manage to endure the second one. You couldn’t climb a mountain in a single day; they had to do it slowly.
The two thousand went even deeper. When they walked for another ten hours nonstop, the next barrier appeared.
This time, only a hundred people, along with Darian, Niara, and Alear, managed to cross it.
Influenced by the strength of those three, everyone who was left behind gritted their teeth. They hated themselves for being weak. Darian nodded internally. They were on the right path, and their will was maturing.
As for the hundred, they were all the most talented Spiritual Guardians, plus the elite of the Rainbow Cranes, who heavily benefited from Czaza. In that third line, they finally felt a massive pressure. It was a pressure on their minds, souls, and bodies at the same time.
The pressure was so strong it took physical form. Since the ground had been under that pressure for countless years, it had turned metallic, so when hit by a weapon, only sparks would fly.
When they were halfway through...
"Inferior human race, going any farther is forbidden! Wait? You’re that bastard human I heard about? Hahaha... I’ll count to three! If you don’t disappear, everyone here will die!"
A deep voice sounded ahead as they walked. It was a group very close to the final test barrier. They were all Three-Eyed Ravens in their true forms.
"Who do you think you are?! You think we need your permission to go wherever we want?! If you don’t want to die, then get lost! Don’t get in the way of our plans to get rich."
A feminine roar echoed like thunder. Alear huffed with an angry expression toward those people, making everyone focus on her.
Darian sighed, while Niara smiled proudly. Alear wasn’t like Niara, who acted without thinking too much, but that idiot had mentioned Darian specifically and insulted him, and that was enough to make her completely lose her mind, taken over by rage.
"Playing with death!"
That group belonged to the elite of the Three-Eyed Raven, and their central figure was focused on absorbing the energies to later try to advance to the final test. That’s why their servants didn’t let anyone get close and disturb them.
"Master, no need to get angry. I’ll kill this bunch of ignorant ants for you." One of them said while moving toward Alear.
Suddenly, she huffed, and a faint black energy came out of her body. In that instant, a small blade shot forward.
*CRASH!*
That Three-Eyed Raven grunted and staggered back, grabbing that Yin blade with his claws.
Then he stabbed it into the ground to stabilize himself, leaving a white mark with sparks flying everywhere. The deafening sound of the metallic ground cracking made people shiver.
Niara was surprised, feeling the three life energies flooding like an open dam around that figure’s body. If it had been anyone from the other two races, they would’ve died instantly. But that figure felt death approaching and activated all the power stored in its core.
Alear also jumped in shock. She thought her blade would kill that person easily, but unexpectedly, he was very strong.
"You damn bitch! You’re all really despicable. A surprise attack? Die!" The other servants roared almost the same things, furious, and then charged at Alear together.
She huffed, ready to activate all her power. But...
"Girl, why use a hammer to kill ants?" Niara’s calm voice echoed. "They’re so full of themselves, that’s not good for their health. Didn’t I teach you a good medicine to cure that disease of theirs?"
Suddenly, Alear’s eyes lit up. Then, a smile full of bad intentions appeared on her beautiful face.
"I see..."
She murmured, and her wings opened. She took a deep breath, then wind runes appeared around her.
Darian could only admire it. Because of her abnormal physique, Alear could easily control simple elemental runes from the environment. This planet had no life, but it still had an atmosphere and soil, so the wind and earth elements existed at very low levels.
"DIE!"
They surrounded her and attacked together. But...
*Wooosh!*
With a flap of her wings and a burst of wind, she vanished from their encirclement in an instant.
Even though they were low-level wind runes, Alear was really good at manipulating them and could squeeze out the most from them.
In the next moment, she appeared like a ghost in front of one of them. On her face...
...there was a very characteristic mocking smile, and that made Darian narrow his eyes.
Niara, on the other hand, burst into loud laughter instantly. Alear really smiled just like Darian; even he noticed it.
*SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!*
Right after, a rhythmic and almost melodic sound of rapid slaps echoed.
*PA!*
"WOW!" Niara exclaimed and clapped right away.
It was a precise and calculated set of slaps. The last one was delivered with enough force to crack through the air — strong enough that a weird sound escaped from the target, something he couldn’t hold back.
That figure fell to the ground and tried to get up, but his mind spun, and suddenly he dropped to his knees and threw up everything he had and didn’t have in his stomach.
"Perfect, now that’s complete humiliation! Good girl!" 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Niara praised her, while Darian stayed silent with a stunned expression. That...
*SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!*
"NOOOO!"
*SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!*
"AHH!"
Alear turned into the worst kind of demon, moving and attacking so fast the opponents couldn’t see her or even dream of dodging.
Everyone fell into despair, but they were being taken down one by one. It was a meticulous technique, and even after collapsing, the targets writhed on the ground in a pathetic way, groaning in agony. It was a humiliation far worse than getting beaten in a fight; they would all choose death over this... if they had that option.
Darian recognized it. He had taught it to Niara before, just for fun. It wasn’t a real technique or anything, just something random he made up because he thought it’d be effective. But she actually liked it and remembered it, teaching it to Alear. (Chapter 482)
Indeed, they all fell and didn’t dare get up.
Within seconds, only muffled groans could be heard, with all of them sprawled across the floor. Soon, they started coughing up blood uncontrollably.
Alear puffed out her chest proudly, turning back toward Niara and Darian, a bit farther away. Niara gave her a thumbs-up with a wide smile.
They weren’t actually injured; Alear barely used any strength. But mentally, they were completely shattered.
Keep in mind, they were in the third test line, where the pressure was terrifying. Once their minds became unstable, the pressure slammed into their undefended bodies. And that made them all suffer severe injuries and get a millimeter away from exploding.
It was a total defeat, achieved with nothing but a few slaps, without spending any energy.
Darian was impressed. Did Niara really think of this simple and perfect tactic to win with no effort?
No, she just thought it would be fun. He was sure of it.
Alear ran back to their side. Niara took a step forward and patted her head. They turned to Darian with bright eyes. He only nodded, giving in, with a strange smile on his face.
"Inferior human race, leave this place." Suddenly, the leader of the Three-Eyed Raven opened his eyes and turned around, shouting at them. "If you take one more step, it’ll be a declaration of war against my race. Do you really think you’ll leave this place alive if I summon my whole race to kill you? I don’t care about what you just did, so just go away."
He noticed those three weren’t easy to provoke. So he threatened them in the harshest way he could, even ignoring what had just happened.
Niara and Alear narrowed their eyes, but didn’t dare respond.
"Then let war be declared. Do you really think I care about you? What a joke."
Darian answered arrogantly, taking a step forward, indifferent. Niara and Alear smiled and stepped to his side, walking proudly next to him. Meanwhile, that figure’s eyes instantly turned red.
