Damned Healer-Chapter 571: Fair Contest
Darian took a deep breath and gathered all those small lights. At that moment, all the Spiritual Guardians who had been blown far away were already back on their feet. They watched Darian store all of it away, and a mix of fear, relief, and envy burned in their chests.
That power definitely had an unbelievable killing capacity. But only for those at the center, within an area of a few hundred meters. The farther away you were, the weaker the impact.
Everyone felt that if they had been inside the central area, they would have vanished without any chance to escape. Still, Darian only managed to do that because of the element of surprise. Anyone who already knew about this power of his would be able to sense the fluctuations and retreat immediately.
In other words, despite the fear, they felt relieved for having witnessed it and not being killed in such a brutal way. He had revealed a major hidden card, and those idiot natives had shown it to them. Now, everyone was convinced they would not be caught by it again.
*BUZZ*
The entire environment began to tremble, and a muffled buzzing could be heard from every direction.
Everyone immediately looked around. The immense scarlet spiderweb started to pulse, drawing in dense energy from the ground. It flowed toward the cocoon at the center, which quickly began emitting a sinister, demonic glow.
Everyone felt immense pressure on their bodies just from looking at that cocoon. There was no need to be a genius to understand. Those dead… no, all the dead in this Convention, were being used to nourish it.
In the skies, Runar beat his wings, staring at the cocoon coldly. He then turned, his gaze meeting Darian's.
"I don't need to explain what's happening, right?"
Darian nodded. Everyone heard it and understood as well.
"I came to deal with that bastard. He only survived because he left part of his soul inside his puppet, which was a Demoness from a very unique Bloodline. Anyway… he created this entire Convention and incited everyone to fight over treasures so he could slowly harvest the energy from their bodies. Now, he's very close to reviving."
At that moment, almost as if responding to Runar's words, the cocoon pulsed with an even stronger glow. At the same time, the entire environment inside the crater changed, the air seeming to be covered by a faint scarlet mist.
People immediately felt that something was wrong. It was as if their minds were subtly clouded, making it harder to think. At the same time, their hearts and vital energy began circulating faster, putting them into a kind of ecstasy.
Clearly, this was something the cocoon created to affect them. Yet no one could nullify its influence on their bodies.
Runar snorted. "That idiot's soul is sealed inside the body; he can't really see or hear anything. He prepared this entire resurrection plan for the future before the final battle against those three, because he knew he wouldn't win. As for his new body in the cocoon, it's inside a demonic technique, created with his immortal power at its peak. I don't have the strength to attack and destroy it right now."
Darian sighed. The situation was similar to what he had imagined. The Missionary staged his own death so he could kill the three divinities. Since this channel was created by him, he set up the entire Convention to secure an energy source for many years, so that one day he could return.
"That's why…" Runar continued, focusing on Darian, "I need him to complete his resurrection. That way, his body will lose the immortal-level protection it currently has, and the moment he revives, he'll be weak for a brief instant. That's the key moment for me to kill him."
Everyone heard that and took a deep breath. The Spiritual Guardians immediately fell into thought, because the objective of this Rank S mission was not to prevent the Missionary's resurrection. Heaven's Will had made it very clear that it only wanted one of them to obtain the final reward.
"Is there anything else? Like a final treasure or something hidden?" Darian asked, voicing the question all the Spiritual Guardians had in mind.
Runar's expression shifted. He looked at Darian with a competitive air, making it clear this was his goal as well. Earlier, he had already told Darian they would be competing for something.
"That immortal technique he used to revive has, at its core, his greatest treasure. He created it by refining the Demoness's entire Bloodline together with his immortal power, thus creating a Devil Pearl."
Darian listened and nodded. Runar had a strong draconic Bloodline from his father, but the demonic trait from his mother was very weak. He wanted that Devil Pearl to solve this problem and balance himself.
At the same time, the Spiritual Guardians narrowed their eyes. This meant that the objective of the Rank S mission was precisely to obtain that Devil Pearl.
Darian reached the same conclusion. "If he revives, the Devil Pearl can be taken by us, right?"
Runar nodded. "Yes. That's the ultimate reward, something almost impossible to find under normal circumstances. But to get it, we need to kill that bastard right after he's reborn. It will be a fair contest; whoever kills him gets it."
All the Spiritual Guardians sighed in relief, because if they had to revive the Missionary, then kill him, and immediately after deal with this Wyvern, the mission would be practically impossible.
Darian asked in a calm tone, "If we don't give the sacrifice for him to complete his body, what happens?"
"After some time, the mechanism of the demonic technique will initiate a self-destruction, burning all the power of the Devil Pearl and killing everyone. That will revive him anyway. That's the last resort, because he definitely doesn't want to lose it. And now that everyone is trapped inside, it's impossible to escape."
Runar replied curtly, and at that moment, all the Spiritual Guardians turned serious. To complete the mission, they would actually have to help that figure revive.
As Runar said, he would awaken weakened. Then someone powerful, using a blessing, would have to kill him before the Wyvern did.
There was no lack of figures capable of that among them, so they had that confidence. After that, it would just be a matter of taking the Devil Pearl, and that would be the end of it. Everyone would return to their homes.
Once they understood this… everyone's gaze focused on Darian and his army, which by then had already regrouped close to him.
Darian smiled faintly, feeling the looks of understanding from everyone. He then turned to Runar with one last question:
"How many sacrifices are still needed? Do you have any estimate?"
Runar also felt the shift in the atmosphere and spoke in a slightly excited tone. "With everyone you've already killed, there's very little left. Around four or five million should be enough."
Niara and Alear positioned themselves beside Darian.
Hearing that answer, all the enemy Spiritual Guardians drew their weapons and began moving calmly. There was no need for words between them; they were all very experienced, and most had reached nine rings after countless battles. In two seconds, they had already formed a still-distant encirclement around Darian's army.
They needed to revive that figure, and coincidentally, what was missing was only a bit more than the total number of Darian's entire army. Possibly, adding the inevitable deaths on their side and that entire small army, it would be enough.
All of them were allies of the three Spiritual Sovereigns and already considered Darian someone they would have to deal with, if they ever had the chance. But…
They knew dealing with him was extremely difficult. They had even said before that numbers did not mean much in front of him.
In other words, they did not believe that having nearly two dozen million people would make killing him easy.
Still, there was something else in their eyes, especially among those thousands from the Wube family. It was absolute confidence that they would succeed.
Darian observed all of this in silence. Those Three-Eyed Ravens were also still alive and moved right behind the Spiritual Guardians. The Wube family's plan involved that race, and that was certainly what gave them such confidence.
Darian had no idea what it was, but now, he was very close to finding out.
