Damned Healer-Chapter 569: Your Time Has Come

After the first twelve hours had passed, everyone had one hour to reach and enter this world's central region, so they could take part in the real Convention.

Darian and the flying ships shot forward at high speed, surrounded by an inscription. It was similar to before, and they had to fight their way through the shadows, but this time it was simpler and faster, since the location of the third phase was close to the Divine Oasis.

In moments, the horizon opened up to a desolate void. From an invisible boundary onward, the shadows that were chasing them froze in place, as if even they instinctively feared what lay ahead.

Just a bit further, everyone stared at the mouth of a colossal crater; it looked like a meteor several kilometers wide had slammed into the place.

Contrary to expectations, the site was only a few meters deep. The ground was a crust of obsidian pebbles, tiny black fragments that looked like they had been carbonized by some extreme power. The air there was freezing cold and, strangely, suffocating. But the most disturbing thing was the ever-present stench: a thick, metallic smell of blood, strong enough to coat the tongue.

This place felt like a cursed site. A massive graveyard where, possibly, in a single cataclysmic instant, an uncountable number of lives had been lost.

Everyone stepped out of the flying ships and set foot on the place. Darian could sense millions of people slowly entering, coming from every direction of the crater.

They all grouped into formation, just like they had been trained. After taking a deep breath, Darian stepped forward, followed by a bit more than four million people.

Everyone's expressions were tense, their breathing uneven. The entire Convention so far had shown itself to be a massive slaughterhouse. Surviving was nearly impossible, even for those above average among the three main races.

The overwhelming majority present weren't even from the three races. No one, before this day, considered themselves someone important or worth much. But now they were all there, watching the back of that figure leading them calmly, flanked on both sides by two Dragonesses.

Soon, Darian stopped.

Everyone saw a massive army up ahead, with a little over twenty million people. Ninety-three percent of them were Spiritual Guardians. Among them, they spotted the two groups of the Twilight Owls and the Three-Eyed Ravens. But together, they didn't even reach a million and a half.

In this Convention, the two races had lost nearly 80% of their people. Darian had only saved a minimal amount, not even 5% of their initial armies.

That entire army was gathered together, and they also noticed Darian's group arriving. Their gazes instantly sharpened like blades.

They were positioned near the center of the crater. On the opposite side, everyone could see, from very far away, another massive army in silence.

They came from the other universe. That place had no dominant races, so all kinds of races and sizes were present. Their numbers were similar to the army nearby, with 70% of them also being Spiritual Guardians.

As expected, the Rank S mission had sent the Spiritual Guardians to both universes. But all of them had connections to the three enemy Spiritual Sovereigns, so they acted in similar ways, joining the natives.

Possibly, the main powers among the Spiritual Sovereigns brought many resources to form alliances with the natives of both universes; that way, both sides would help each other during the Convention.

In short, there were three large armies. Darian's was five times smaller and was still composed mostly of, at best, average natives of one universe. Comparing their power levels to the other armies was absolutely ridiculous, but...

The Spiritual Guardians only watched Darian from afar, without saying a single word or showing even the slightest intention of doing anything. In fact, all of them emitted a subtle fear and were completely alert toward Darian, as if he were a terrifying predator they couldn't take their eyes off.

And they weren't wrong. Darian was possibly the most well-known and talked-about person in his entire universe currently. His feats were completely absurd, so much so that everyone, when hearing them for the first time, thought it was a bad joke. But there were physical proofs, countless recordings, and everything else.

There was no denying it. He hadn't just contributed significantly to killing a Spiritual Sovereign, but also killed two immortals almost by himself.

The Spiritual Guardians had been warned to consider Darian an abomination, someone they couldn't even think about underestimating. But for the natives of the two universes, it was different. Even after hearing a lot about Darian, they couldn't form a clear idea of what he truly represented.

Even the Twilight Owls and Three-Eyed Ravens who suffered heavy losses to him still imagined Darian was someone they could deal with in some way. The arrogance cultivated after infinite years at the top of the universe's food chain had shaped those figures into what they were now.

The three armies stood still around the center. Everyone is alert to the others, but no one is moving.

Minutes passed slowly...

Until a full hour finally ended.

*Buzz*

Space began to tremble in all directions, as if something was moving and connecting. At a certain moment, a web of blood-colored lines appeared high above, covering and sealing the entire crater.

The structure looked like a massive spiderweb, with its central core positioned directly above the middle of the crater. All the energies of that world seemed to be vibrating and connecting to that thing in the center.

Everyone turned toward the thing in the center with strange looks. It resembled a huge demonic cocoon.

Not just resembled... everyone felt that the web was releasing the three energies of life, channeling everything toward the cocoon as if it were feeding it. That was definitely something typical of demons.

Some demon species could undergo a metamorphosis like insects. They sealed themselves inside cocoons and needed to be nourished with all sorts of things. Death Yin, blood, and the lives of people were the most common, but of course, there were species that only needed natural and clean resources.

After leaving the cocoon, their bodies changed completely, becoming obviously much stronger. And the thing in front of them looked very, very much like that kind of process.

*Flap! Flap! Flap!*

At that moment, the sound of powerful wings beating, accompanied by a gust of wind and power, was felt by everyone.

Up above, everyone swallowed hard when they saw a massive Wyvern, releasing a terrifying aura.

Darian didn't sense Runar inside the crater. He was outside, possibly investigating something, but now he arrived, tearing through space as if he had always been there.

Runar stayed high in the air, staring directly at the large cocoon. His gaze was cold and wild, but he didn't move.

Suddenly, the skies changed.

Infinite small points of light appeared from the void, covering everything above them.

"That... are those the Convention keys?" Clanne muttered in surprise. He felt the fluctuations of something he had already seen before, and he was sure it was the same thing.

Everyone in the three armies took a deep breath. In previous Conventions, in the final test, when everyone had to fight the Shadows and kill them, each dead Shadow released one of those keys.

*Buzz*

In that instant, the scarlet spiderweb vibrated. Then, suddenly, across its entire extension, countless small scarlet bubbles appeared.

"They're the treasures!" someone in the other armies shouted.

In the other Conventions, to get one of those treasures, a person needed at least three keys, which they obtained by killing Shadows... or by stealing from someone who had managed to get them.

In the past, the third phase of the Convention was very simple. Everyone had to fight to get keys and treasures. And in the end, the one who stood out the most always received something extra and very good.

But this time...

All the keys began to move quickly toward the ground. However, it wasn't random: they moved as if being pulled, dividing into three groups.

In a second, everyone in the three armies saw a small point of light in front of them. It was clear that this was a distribution: each person would receive one.

"That's it! This time, we have to fight each other to win!" someone shouted.

"But that big one in the center? Is that the ultimate treasure?!"

"Definitely! That must be the main demonic weapon of that missionary!" Someone more knowledgeable, from the Three-Eyed Ravens, spoke excitedly. "He used a terrifying puppet. It was the dead body of a Demoness, refined into a weapon. That thing in the center looks like a demonic cocoon, so that has to be what's inside."

Everyone in the three armies heard that. Immediately, their gazes changed, and extreme greed surfaced. After that, a murderous intent spread from all of them.

That was because each treasure had a required number of keys to be opened. So obviously, the one in the center, something absurdly valuable, would need thousands or millions of keys to be unlocked.

Only one person would get that thing. And to claim it, they needed to kill as many as possible.

All the natives of both universes looked toward Darian's side. More precisely, they looked at the weaker ones who also came from his universe, the ones he had brought with him.

They weren't even from the three Heavenly Beasts races, so they looked like easy meat to tear apart. There were only four million of them. Even knowing Darian was terrifying, with millions charging brutally from all directions and ignoring him, what could he possibly do?

That entire army would die quickly, and their points would help obtain the treasures inside the bubbles. Those treasures, historically, had no owner or any energy inside them, making them easy to take and use right away.

In short, the two armies of natives had the same idea: eliminate the weaker ones first, arm themselves, and then start the massacre on the other side.

As for Darian... he would kill some, but he was only one person, and it wouldn't change anything. Spiritual Guardians like him might even have methods to restrain him and buy time.

"Hahaha... Darian, your time has come!" Galteus shouted excitedly.

"Don't waste time, ATTACK!" Caelu roared, making his entire army charge forward.

Fortunately for them, they were much closer to Darian's army than the army from the other universe.

Seeing this movement, Darian clenched his fists, murderous intent exploding in his eyes.