Damned Healer-Chapter 562: Herald
Darian and his group spent a full 30 days on that planet. The training inscription would stay open until right before the Convention began, but a month was a common amount of time to stay in constant training; after that period, everyone needed to rest and absorb their gains.
When they returned to the imperial planet of the Rainbow Cranes, Darian evaluated that group carefully.
"All of you gained enough in these days. That place is made for training the mind and the will; there’s no point staying too long. After relaxing for a few days, it’ll be more advantageous to train with the others than to go back."
Everyone nodded; his words were the same as the Emperor’s. Everything related to the preparation, and later on in the Convention, was under his orders.
Five months remained.
Now, Darian was sure the Rainbow Cranes wouldn’t have any problem keeping up with him; they could fight and survive according to their own destinies. So now it was time to focus on other things.
Darian went to the Emperor for a new meeting. When he arrived in the hall, he asked seriously.
"I read that there are Golems in this universe. And there are also some powerful known ones who try to unite their race on isolated planets. They aren’t allies of any of the three races, right?"
The Emperor nodded. "The Golems refuse to serve any race. Over the generations, whenever the other two tried, they preferred to die rather than bow. Even when offered many benefits, they’re unshakable in that. Right now, there are three Golems at the peak of power in the universe. Of course, even they, if they fought any ordinary person of my race, wouldn’t have any chance of winning."
Darian understood. Golems were born knowing they were protected by the Golem God, so they would never accept bowing to any race. Besides that, they had no fear at all, since it was impossible to exterminate their race from the universe. Even if all of them were killed, new Golems would naturally be born on any rocky planet, since they were in a high-level universe.
"Great, I want to pay them a visit," Darian replied, full of confidence. "Please prepare a vast, empty region on the planet."
The Emperor was confused. The Golems literally had a brain as hard as rock, and were known for being stupid, unable to accept any resource or advantage the three races offered. They didn’t care about anything and just wanted to live alone.
As for their power... it wasn’t much. They were only good at defending themselves; offensively, they were almost useless. So the three races decided to ignore them completely. They harmed no one, wanted no resources, and were irrelevant in the balance of power in the universe.
Darian’s words suggested he planned to bring them to his side. Besides sounding impossible — since infinite attempts had already shown they were beyond stubborn — it also raised the question: what could they even help with? They were mediocre in battle.
Darian didn’t bother explaining. He just asked for the exact location, then entered the flying ship with Niara and Alear.
...
In a few days, he reached a massive, rocky, wild planet that existed in the ascendant world.
The Golems wanted so badly to live isolated and far from conflict that they chose planets far from the divine world, which was where everyone wanted to live.
Darian arrived on the planet and immediately activated his Gaia core. In that same instant, he felt a connection with the planet.
He had learned from Meru how to use that core better. Her father was the one who took up the mantle of the Golem God and promised to protect the race. Gaia had a very close connection to the Golems. Because of that, Meru asked her father for some tips, then taught them to Darian.
In short, Darian could communicate with Gaia more directly. It was like sending a message and intentions, being able to receive a subtle response or not, depending on Gaia’s level of intelligence.
’I came to see all the Golems. Could you wake them up and bring them to me?’
Darian thought, sending the message to Gaia.
There was no response, but he waited patiently. Meru had explained that sometimes Gaia understood his intentions through his words, even without knowing how to speak or answer.
Alear and Niara just watched curiously, admiring the unique nature of that planet.
It took more than two hours until a subtle tremor was felt.
Darian turned to the West; every second the tremor grew stronger, then... the two looked in the same direction and saw a mountain slowly moving.
After half an hour, the mountain revealed itself as a colossal creature made of black rocks. Even though it was made of stones of various sizes and was enormous, it still had two legs and two arms, in a shape similar to a humanoid. That was the simplest and easiest form to use after all, copied by many races.
"Who are you?"
A loud, thunder-like voice echoed. But he wasn’t shouting on purpose.
That was one of the most powerful Golems in the universe, alive for more than a million years, and had reached the peak power possible. However, he was a classic Golem who stayed asleep to grow stronger. Because of that, his life expectancy was absurd, but he hadn’t spent even 1% of that time awake.
Darian took a deep breath. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
"I came in the name of the Golem God." He spoke slowly, and saw that Golem’s eyes and aura shifted... into anger.
But... Darian nodded, and his semi-immortal soul surfaced. At the same time, his Gaia core activated, releasing a very specific emerald-green aura.
The Golem recognized that.
In the same instant, the sound of a stone heart beating violently echoed. Alear and Niara smiled faintly.
"Like I said, I came in the name of the Golem God," Darian repeated, even more serious, "I need your help. In return, I’ll leave great benefits. Your race needs power to protect and gather the Golems that are born in the universe. You can’t just stay here sleeping on isolated planets, away from everything. Your newborn brothers depend on you. That’s why the Golem God sent me to give you this blessing. But you have to work to earn it properly."
Darian’s words weren’t a lie. Meru herself told him to say those things. Golems tended to be very passive, and, when they saw no future ahead, they did the bare minimum and lived sleeping.
But internally, they were pure and had a clear mind. They all wanted to protect and help the rest of their race. But in this universe, it was impossible to do much.
Because of that, Darian received permission to gather them and make them move. In exchange, he really would give them a lot, changing their destiny in the universe. Darian basically became a *Herald of the Golem God*.
*BOOM!*
Suddenly, the whole place shook, startling Darian, Alear, and Niara.
They looked ahead; everything was covered in dust. When it settled, they saw that Golem was kneeling with his head on the ground.
"We will follow the orders of the Golem God!"
That Golem’s voice echoed full of will.
Darian responded energetically, "Gather everyone on the planet. Our time is short. I’ll visit all the planets where you live together, then take you to get ready."
...
In less than 15 days, Darian returned to the imperial planet of the Rainbow Cranes. But now, it was filled with hundreds of thousands of Golems.
That was only the first trip. He went back and forth three times, gathering over a million Golems. All of them, who practically only lived sleeping, woke up and agreed to fight at his side in the name of the Golem God’s Blessing.
Darian didn’t waste time. Tir and Eleri, who had been fed plenty during the conflicts with the Twilight Owls, were full of energy.
Tir created the Land of Life, where, just like before, the Golems could merge with it in meditation and increase the level of their earth-heart. They were all already born at the Mortal level, which was the lowest — different from the Golems of that other universe.
Now, in a short time, they all reached the Divine level. That multiplied their power and their control over the Earth element several times. To complete it, Darian gave them all the same technique he received from the Golems.
The Convention wouldn’t take place on planets, but in a channel between two universes. However, the Golems could fill Gaia’s Heart with power before going.
To complete it, the sacred water created by Eleri helped all Golems who weren’t at the peak of cultivation in the universe — and even those still far from it — rise quickly in power.
The Emperor of the Rainbow Cranes was initially in disbelief. But... in mere two months, he was completely stunned when he realized.
Before, only three Golems existed at the peak power of the universe. Now... over 800 thousand existed, suddenly.
Besides that... the level of strength and power they all emitted was like Heaven and Earth compared to all the Golems he had seen in his life. It was as if these in front of him were from a completely different race.
Darian organized all the Golems personally, then trained them in the basics with Awel’s help. This girl was his right hand for this kind of thing and knew exactly how to deal with that race.
***
The last five months passed slowly.
In one year in this universe, Darian worked hard every day, preparing for the Convention.
Besides getting the best resources in the universe, he raised two new local armies that would join his army of Spiritual Guardians.
At that moment.
"The Convention is about to begin!" Clanne ran to Darian and exclaimed.
Finally, the time had come.
