Damned Healer-Chapter 566: Baseless Arrogance

Darian took a deep breath, thinking fast. The second phase of the Convention was pretty simple. Everyone arrived at the old battlefield and had to wait until 12 hours had passed since the start of the Convention.

When that time was up, everyone who wanted to try had to go to a specific place inside that world. That was where the final phase would happen, and where the real prizes would be handed out.

Normally, it took an hour or less to complete the first phase of the crossing. So everyone had 11 free hours to explore the battlefield.

But the time they arrived at the battlefield was crucial, for two reasons.

The first was that the people from the other universe were also present in that place.

Across all the Conventions, the best locations were already mapped—places where more treasure was likely to exist, because they were spots where the strongest people had died in battle. So if you arrived too late, you had to fight and compete with those enemies.

The second reason was very specific to the Heavenly Beasts. There was a place in that battlefield called the Divine Oasis. It was a small enclosed area where only the three races could enter. Nobody knew how, but that place had been left behind by the three divinities, and their powers still protected it.

Inside, the races felt their Bloodlines getting stronger, and they were completely safe while preparing for the last phase. There was a limit on how many people could enter. In previous Conventions, only enough room existed for a single army from one race to enter, and a few leftover spots for the others.

In the past, Clanne had taken part in a Convention when he was just a talented young Rainbow Crane. He got really lucky, being the only one from his race who managed to enter the Divine Oasis.

When everything ended, and he returned to the universe, he became the most powerful figure of the race, receiving the title of Supreme General. He would probably take the position of Race Emperor in the future.

Because of these two reasons, everyone who joined the Convention wanted to reach the second phase as fast as possible.

Back to the present. Darian didn't see another option—they had to reach that Oasis. With all those enemies ahead, the other two races were probably still fighting their way forward to get there.

Even if only the Heavenly Beasts could enter, that Oasis was like a massive, unbreakable wall for the Shadows. So fighting with their backs protected by it would be much easier. The Golems were excellent at creating defenses and earth barriers, as long as the Spiritual Guardians kept the pressure on with attacks.

Darian nodded, and his flying boat appeared. He roared a command: "All Heavenly Beasts and Golems, get into your flying boats. The Golems stay on the outer side and activate their defenses to protect the vessels. The Spiritual Guardians stay outside, forming the main defense as we advance toward the Divine Oasis."

Everyone heard that in shock, especially those from the other two races.

Darian didn't explain anything. The Rainbow Cranes and Golems didn't hesitate. They were trained to act immediately after an order and, surprisingly, had already received some instructions from Lucy in case they needed to use the flying boats.

Everyone jumped onto their flying boats, moving them into tight formation with each other.

People from the other two races were confused, but the Rainbow Cranes dragged them onto the flying boats with them. For the first time, the three races were together, even if it was just a small number. The Rainbow Cranes showed no hostility, genuinely trying to incorporate them into the army.

Darian turned to Lucy. She nodded and leapt toward the boats, pulling several Supreme Artifacts from her spatial ring. They were crystals pulsing with mostly spatial energy, though some had other elements mixed in.

Within seconds, a huge inscription was assembled. It formed a massive energy sphere around the thousands of vessels. The sphere had hundreds of pulsing runes, all linked together.

"Go!"

Darian commanded, and all the Spiritual Guardians leapt up, attaching themselves to the outer layer of the inscription.

Lucy was at the center of the so-called *Swift-War Inscription*. She had her eyes closed, surrounded by spatial runes, fully focused.

It was something extremely complex, built to move a huge army quickly through the battlefield. But if they were attacked directly and the runes were destroyed, everything would collapse.

After realizing she didn't have the talent to be a leader, during the years preparing for the Convention, Lucy focused entirely on becoming the best she could in inscriptions. She created and learned several types, and Darian knew everything she was capable of, trusting her completely.

In individual battles or small-scale fights, inscriptions weren't that useful. But in moments like this, or in large-scale conflicts, inscriptions and formations made all the difference.

Lucius was the complete opposite—he was the calm and thoughtful twin, someone who knew how to command people in battle with more clarity and assertiveness. After years, the twins had matured and understood their strengths, focusing only on that now.

Everything happened very fast; in just a few seconds, they were already moving through the skies, connected by the formation.

Obviously, these Shadows were very powerful and could both fly and attack from long range.

By flying, they could be sensed and seen by the Shadows across a huge area. The Shadows weren't intelligent, but they attacked anything that got into their radar. So being in the skies was a thousand times worse than moving on the ground.

*BOOOM!*

The moment they started moving, they got hit by something like a massive black wave. But the Spiritual Guardians on the outer side of the sphere defended with everything they had.

Tanks and supports were the last line protecting the runes. Meanwhile, mages and Fighters attacked with their blessings or weapons, preventing the Shadows from reaching the runes.

Whenever a Shadow exploded, the death-Yin it used as power was released. Alear took control of that instantly, absorbing it and attacking with her blessing.

Darian slowly removed the seal on Niara's cores, releasing the three energies accumulated from the events on the training planet. She didn't need to enter Berserker mode and controlled everything precisely, unleashing powerful area attacks to hold back the Shadows.

They moved at a very high speed while piercing through the sea of frenzied enemies. But this place was enormous, like a colossal planet.

Some attacks from the Shadows slipped into the inscription sphere without hitting the runes, heading toward the flying boats. That was when the Golems acted, calling on earth power to block them.

Meanwhile, the three races inside the boats just watched everything with strange expressions.

They, who once thought they were above everyone in this universe, now felt useless. They didn't have the terrifying capacity of blessings, nor the defensive potential of the Golems.

They didn't stand out in anything. If they went out to try helping, they would only get in the way. Everyone understood that now, and they felt the weight of the baseless arrogance they had carried in the past.

The truth was that the Heavenly Beasts were the strongest in this universe only because the laws of the place favored them. Any random member of their kind could reach the top of the universe's cultivation ladder with ridiculous ease. On top of that, all their attacks and techniques got a bonus, becoming stronger for a very small cost.

It was like learning a level 1 skill, and the moment you used it, that skill magically jumped to level 100. It was an insane cheat. The other races had nothing like that, so it was a pretty unfair competition.

Because of that, the Heavenly Beasts didn't need to focus or dedicate themselves diligently to anything.

Inside this battlefield, they were officially outside the universe. The favorable laws of their home didn't work anymore.

This wasn't a serious problem for the two powerful races, since they had techniques that used their Bloodlines, developed in the war of the past, plus many people at the peak of power and plenty of resources to spend.

But if they faced a complex situation where they weren't overwhelmingly powerful like they were used to, they became pretty useless.

Darian didn't need to say anything. But the silent message was clearly understood by the Heavenly Beasts.

Up in the skies, they were like an unstoppable War Tank. Explosions of power waves shook the space around them. But working together with that inscription, they managed to do everything perfectly.

Almost three hours later, they finally saw a gigantic sphere of light ahead.

Everyone's eyes lit up. If the Heavenly Beasts got inside, they wouldn't need to fight while defending something anymore, which would make things much easier to handle.

They moved quickly. When they got close...

"How is that even possible?! Those bastards actually got in first!"

Clanne roared in shock. Inside the Divine Oasis, they saw the two enemy armies. Two pairs of eyes opened in their direction, Galteus and Caelu, both with extremely mocking expressions.

Since both armies lost a third of their people in the first phase, and then even more died on the way to this place, together they had enough people to stay within the maximum allowed number.

Darian narrowed his eyes. It was obvious these two races had decided to join hands and advance together to this place. There was no way the two armies, separated, would have arrived so fast, and seeing how calm and relaxed they were inside only made it even more obvious.

The two races were declared enemies, and throughout the years, they had countless irreconcilable conflicts in their fight for hegemony. But... something made them accept joining forces in this Convention.

Darian felt it instinctively. The reason was something the outsiders had said and promised. Meaning, this was connected to him.

Meanwhile, the Spiritual Guardians and the people from the other universe were probably fighting or exploring other special locations that likely existed.

Both armies were sitting inside the barrier. A divine light flowed around their bodies, and they seemed to be receiving some kind of blessing.

The flying ships stopped near the barrier, everyone wearing tense expressions.

The only option now was for all of them to get out and fight together, using this barrier at their backs to gain some advantage. It was better than being attacked from every direction, and less exhausting than flying while being an even easier target for the far greater number of Shadows.

Alear and Niara turned toward Darian. All the Spiritual Guardians also focused on him, anxiously waiting for his orders.

A murderous aura emanated from Darian. "It's alright," he said softly, making an almost irrational relief and sense of safety rise in everyone nearby. At his side, they had survived many tribulations, and he always showed them the path to victory.

Next, Awel appeared in his hands.

Darian hadn't wanted to do this before, but now everything had changed. These two races had confirmed they were on the side of the Wube family and their enemies. Meaning, they needed to die.

He would destroy this barrier by force and push them into a desperate situation as well; they would likely die miserably.

As for him... unfortunately, he would have to burn important resources he had been saving for the final phase of the Convention. But he definitely wouldn't let the people who trusted him die.

The sharpening seal appeared on the dagger. Just as he prepared to strike...

'Do you want to enter?' a soft voice echoed in his mind.