Damned Healer-Chapter 590: Heavenly Curse

Darian met with Caliris quickly, this time directly on Earth. By now, Darian was living permanently with Camille in the State of Aeternum Atlantis.

When Caliris arrived, her expression was just as impassive and emotionless as ever. Still, her tone was urgent.

"Sir, all of my spies near those three were killed at once, at the exact same time. Before that, they noticed major movement on several planets. Something big is definitely about to happen."

Darian listened and sighed. "That's fine. I'm preparing exactly for that scenario. Honestly, I want them to attack me, but I also need a bit of time."

Caliris's eyes widened when she heard that. He wanted to be attacked and start an all-out war so soon? That was insane. He only had seven rings and was already this powerful; if he reached nine, he would definitely win without any unexpected problems.

Darian noticed her expression change, showing a rare hint of emotion. He began speaking in a sober tone:

"It's not like I want this. But I can't be naive. The number of people who've gone through an ancestral awakening isn't small, but none of them are ever made public, not even on powerful planets where the risk of being killed because of their spiritual root is basically zero."

"And this kind of awakening always creates unique, brand-new Blessings. Blessings are the greatest hidden weapon of the Spiritual Guardians, so it makes sense that people with something new and special are deliberately kept hidden."

Caliris understood the logic. Those who went through an ancestral awakening among the demons, unfortunately, didn't live long. She had no way to control that, since all Demons knew the method to absorb a spiritual root.

On planets controlled by Aurix and Painita, Darian had heard from them that such people appeared once every hundred or two hundred years. But for some reason, none of them ever reached nine rings and died beforehand, for many different reasons.

Going through that kind of awakening was like being cursed by the Laws of the world. Heaven's Will granted the person great power, but at a very high price. And almost all of them died very quickly.

Darian reflected on this and reached a clear conclusion: it was a test from Heaven's Will, meant for selected souls.

Every possible misfortune, along with the strangest problems, would happen, but it had nothing to do with the person's karma. It was Heaven's Will itself testing that soul. Lucy and Lucius were the biggest example of this, as they always ended up dragged into major trouble.

The attack on the clan during those ten years was one example. Then Lucius lost his partner. Or Lucy nearly losing her army and dying in that array. Their lives were always just as hard as Darian's, even when he was far away from them.

But if people like that were properly protected by those three Spiritual Sovereigns…

"Anything can come from a Blessing. It's not impossible that someone exists with a new Blessing capable of sensing the Laws of a universe and its energies. Cultivators can do that easily, after all," Darian continued calmly. "So even if those immortals are hiding in another universe, they can still be discovered. You can't hide something like that forever."

Caliris took a deep breath. Seeing how calm Darian was, she had the impression that he had deliberately created those immortals and was using them as bait. Her eyes shifted at that thought; even she wasn't crazy enough to play with something at that level. Those three were terrifyingly powerful figures with countless resources.

Darian continued, "Anyway… the fact that they killed your spies only means one thing. They've known about them for a long time and chose to eliminate them now because they don't want to risk me discovering anything. Most likely, they plan to prepare slowly and leave no traces."

"They…" she murmured, thoughtful.

"Yes. When they move, it'll be with everything they have. They'll come personally to attack me on Earth, without wanting to give me any chance," Darian finished. "Quietly prepare your entire army for a major battle. Aurix and Painita will do the same. If I'm right, this will happen in less than a year."

Caliris swallowed hard, nodded, bowed, and left quickly.

At that moment, Niara, who had been in the hall, stood up excitedly. "Dan, should we take this chance to recover other galaxies? A year is a long time out there. We should be able to make progress."

Darian turned to her gently and looked into her amber eyes with a faint smile.

"That's true. But first, we need to take care of something more important," he said, and Niara looked confused. Seeing that, Darian snorted. "You forgot? I promised that once everything on Earth was settled, we'd go back to Vadise and do the wedding properly."

Niara stared at Darian, only remembering it now. In that instant, her eyes shone like stars as she realized something.

Darian sighed. "We'll stay for just one month, alright? After that, we have to get back to work."

Niara nodded with a soft smile. The two of them were always training or jumping from one problem to another, so they almost never had time alone. Now, whenever they had even the slightest chance, they had to make the most of it.

"Yes… that's perfect! Lucius has been wanting to make things official with Veyle, too. Why don't we do both at the same time?" Niara said quickly, her face glowing with joy.

She looked overflowing with excitement and happiness. That made Darian sigh, wishing he could keep her like that forever. "Then we'll do both. But Veyle has family here on Earth, and you're from another planet. They should be two separate events."

After saying that, Niara nodded excitedly and then jumped on him very warmly. Now that all barriers between them had fallen, she went back to acting exactly how she wanted, without any filter, whenever they were alone.

The problem was that after that, it was hard to separate.

Not that he really wanted to. After all, Niara perfectly felt what he felt and knew exactly how to bind him completely to her, with no way out.

***

A month passed really fast. During that time, Darian made all the preparations on Earth together with Lucy. They created massive defensive inscriptions across the entire planet, meant for situations that could become dangerous for the population in the future.

At the same time, Darian didn't spare any resources to create nourishment inscriptions all over the planet. From now on, the entire Earth had an energy flow equal to that of the greatest planets in the universe. Because of that, all natural life would change drastically, becoming more and more incredible and powerful.

All ordinary humans would live much longer and have far greater potential. As for the awakened ones, they would already start their lives as Spiritual Guardians at a much higher level. In just a few years, the entire Earth would go through a complete transformation as a new generation emerged.

After everything was done, Darian received a call.

He turned around and returned to Niara's side in the great meeting hall. Someone was waiting for them: Leander.

Leander nodded. His gaze was a bit different now, filled with a quiet determination.

Darian approached with Niara and sat nearby. Looking at Leander, he asked:

"The clan has already been reestablished, and you took everything back. Did something happen?"

Niara smiled faintly, already anticipating what was coming.

Leander took a deep breath and nodded. "Darian, I want to step down as vice-leader of the clan. I'm leaving my position for good…"

Darian was caught off guard. He thought quickly, but couldn't find any obvious reason. Meanwhile, Leander gathered his courage and organized his thoughts.

After a few seconds of silence, Leander continued seriously:

"I… want to go back to being a real Spiritual Guardian. I need to fight and train, and raise my rings again."

Darian looked at him, even more confused. Back when Leander had taken on the vice-leader role, he seemed content just taking care of the clan.

"Damn it, Dan, why don't you use your brain properly with stuff like this?!" Niara snapped beside him.

Darian turned to her, staring into those amber eyes that were shooting him looks of disbelief.

"Darian," Leander said seriously, "forgive me, but… when Lucy became an immortal… she started deliberately distancing herself from me."

Darian's expression changed instantly when he heard that.

"Finally…" Niara muttered, snorting.

"I see. My little sister tends to overthink things…" Darian murmured, sighing.

Now that Lucy had become an immortal, she was thinking about her future. Leander was still a mortal and would die after a few hundred years, while she wouldn't. So she didn't want to go through the pain of loss, something as brutal as their mother's death.

Leander understood that quickly and made his choice.

"I really like her. So… I need to become an immortal too, with my own strength," Leander said, his words full of determination.

Darian nodded. "Alright. Go back to the training universe and join Howlyn and the attack expeditions to other galaxies. You'll have all the support you need there. The rest depends on you."

Leander clenched his fists and nodded, then remembered something. "My mother wants to fight too. She's always been a bit frustrated just staying by my side in the clan. Now, the two of us will rise as far as we can with our own hands."

After that, Leander said his goodbyes.

As for Darian, he felt there was no need to choose another vice-leader. The clan was already connected to the government of the State of Aeternum Atlantis, and he could handle everything together with Camille and the others.