Damned Healer-Chapter 599: A God To Guide You

The world of the three changed in an instant. But... it was nowhere near what they imagined.

"This... are we in a universe?" Alear stammered, surprised.

They found themselves floating extremely high up, in the middle of an immense darkness. Far below, they could see a gigantic dark ocean. It was like being in the middle of a cloudy night, flying above a sea with no end.

They hadn't fallen onto a planet. There was no ground at the bottom of that 'ocean'.

Suddenly...

"!"

Niara and Alear widened their eyes, feeling a terrifying force invade their bodies all at once. Then, all the energy from their rings and cores began circulating against their will.

In the next second, everything started flowing out of their bodies, draining them completely.

Niara focused on Darian and then noticed that all the power he had been using to protect them was gone. His gaze turned empty and lifeless, and then... his consciousness completely faded.

He entered a half-dead state once again, and the two felt that the little power he still had was also being taken away.

Then...

*Buzz!*

The space around them hummed. As if that wasn't enough, that same strange force from before began pressing down on them and then violently pulling them in every direction.

"Fuck!"

Niara roared. Both of them were already exhausted and without any power. Now, the only thing they had left was the raw power of their Bloodline.

They both grabbed onto Darian and activated everything they had to resist.

It was as if...

"The laws of this universe are rejecting us!" Alear exclaimed seriously.

The two of them spat blood uncontrollably, but used everything they had to protect Darian, who was in critical condition. But...

"What!?"

Niara was the first to notice. Even the energy from a Primordial Dragon's Bloodline was weakening rapidly. The color of their scales was fading. This wouldn't last long.

Alear had a panicked expression. They had arrived in a universe completely different from anything she had ever heard of. The laws of this world were so oppressive and powerful that they could suppress even the power of a Primordial Beast.

Her mind worked at full speed, trying to find a solution. Darian wasn't in any condition to help, so everything rested on the two of them.

Niara wasn't one to think too much, but her instincts sensed something strange.

"...The laws of this universe don't have the power to kill us! But since we're together, it feels like three different forces added together are attacking us."

Alear heard that and immediately understood. Indeed, when she focused, she felt herself being pulled by three different forces, which together became terrifying.

She took a deep breath and then turned to Niara.

"Dan needs to recover by your side. I'm the problem..."

Niara roared, "Don't be an idiot!"

"Don't get it wrong," Alear looked at her with eyes full of resolve and confidence, "Papa is right. I'm not a child anymore, and I can handle myself. So we'll split up. After he recovers, we'll meet again. In the meantime, I'll try to help by looking for opportunities."

Niara stared into the young girl's eyes seriously. She had raised this girl since she was a baby, and now she saw a maturity that made her worried and proud at the same time.

If Darian were awake, he would definitely not allow this. After all, he was extremely protective, to an almost annoying degree. But this girl needed to see the world with her own eyes, flying out of the nest. She couldn't get used to being protected. Life was a jungle, and a woman first needed to rely on herself to survive.

Niara spoke with a sigh, "He's going to be mad at me, so don't make me regret this later."

Alear took a deep breath and nodded. She gave one last look at Darian's unconscious face. For some reason, she felt pain rising from the depths of her soul, seeing him in that half-dead state.

He was always walking the line between life and death, jumping from one terrible danger to another, all so he could grow stronger and take care of everyone.

She wanted to help him more, as soon as possible. She wanted to be able to support him enough so he wouldn't have to end up like this so many times. In her mind, there was only one overwhelming desire: to become stronger, no matter the cost.

"I'll be fine. I had three mothers who taught me how to be a strong woman, and two fathers who taught me how to live and love," Alear murmured with a voice full of emotion, making Niara sigh softly.

In the next second, Alear let go of Darian. She kept her eyes fixed on him, watching his body be pulled away by a terrifying force.

It all happened very fast. Just minutes after entering this universe, Alear was separated from them.

At that moment, Niara felt the force acting on her and Darian decrease drastically.

She hugged him tightly, protecting him. Soon after, she felt that they were being carried somewhere, slowly losing altitude.

As for the Bloodline in her body... it was already down to half its energy.

Niara took a deep breath. She didn't like thinking too much, but she was by no means foolish or irrational.

Soon, just by thinking it through a bit, she was certain. The only thing she had left was her Bloodline, and even that would run out quickly. Then she would be thrown into an unknown place with no power at all. Under those conditions, how would she isolate herself with Darian to help him recover?

She quickly turned to Darian's face and made a decision.

The technique to wake him up was quite simple. She needed to burn her Bloodline and convert it all into vital energy, then infuse it into him to forcibly wake him up. But since that energy wasn't his, it wouldn't last long and wasn't very compatible.

She was going to lose her Bloodline anyway. But if she converted everything now and gave it to him, it would be far more useful. Besides, she trusted completely that he could handle the situation in an even more perfect way. They could be thrown into hell itself, and Darian would carve a safe path out.

Without hesitation, Niara brought her lips to his, connecting directly with him. Was it necessary? Maybe not. But she preferred it this way.

***

Suddenly, Darian opened his eyes in shock.

The first thing he felt was his entire body frozen stiff. The sensation was identical to when he had woken up beside Niara before. It felt like he was immersed in a frozen sea.

But...

A comfortable warmth spread through his chest. He turned his head and saw Niara unconscious, tightly clinging to him, her arms crossed around his neck.

Darian took a deep breath and looked around...

They were floating at high speed through a strange and unfamiliar place. He quickly connected the dots.

"A universe unlike anything else."

He wondered where Alear was and why all the power in his rings and cores was completely empty. When he focused on Niara, he realized she was just like him, but...

"What? Her draconic Bloodline is completely drained and suppressed?"

Darian was stunned. Nothing in a universe should have enough power to suppress a Primordial Dragon's strength. But knowing Niara's simple way of thinking, and the resurrection technique she used to wake him up, he immediately understood what she had done.

"I need to find something to nourish her Bloodline and wake her up," Darian muttered, deeply worried. That was the only thing that could make her wake up.

As for himself...

"This vital energy forcibly fused into me... it'll last, at most, seven days."

He snorted. He had seven days to wake her up somehow, so they could recover together. Obviously, they couldn't use the dual technique with one side unconscious.

"Where the hell is this taking us?" Darian grumbled tensely, gently moving Niara onto his back.

She seemed to react instinctively, wrapping her legs and arms around him while resting her head on his shoulder. Her face was calm and relaxed, as if she were taking a peaceful nap and having a good dream while holding onto him.

Darian felt her softness, her scent, her warmth, and oddly enough, he calmed down. He was once again in an unknown and somewhat vulnerable place, but he wasn't alone like before.

It was as if he had been pulled into the eye of a hurricane. Space twisted around him, dragging him through it. That force couldn't injure his body, even though he was at his limit.

He noticed there were two different forces at work. And if they were even a little stronger, it would be a serious problem. That made it easy to imagine why Alear wasn't with them.

Pain tightened in his chest. Alear had chosen to go on her own and would end up somewhere unknown. He would definitely have stopped her, but... he hadn't raised a fragile, helpless woman. Quite the opposite. He had done everything he could to teach her to be independent, capable of dealing with anything on her own.

All he could do was swallow that feeling and trust his adopted daughter. She was already an adult, and now she would prove everything she had learned in practice.

Suddenly, that force vanished.

In that instant, Darian found himself falling from the sky much faster, toward an unknown place. The fluctuations there were extremely strange, unstable, and chaotic.

*BOOM!*

He was falling too fast to stabilize himself and crashed violently into the ground, opening a massive crater.

"Huh? What is this?"

Darian realized he had slammed into something specific. When he looked around, his hair stood on end.

There was a giant spider beneath him. He had landed directly on its head.

Darian's heart raced. The aura of that beast contained something unfamiliar, giving him a subtle sense of danger. It was different from Divine Beasts, Demonic Beasts, or even the Primal Beasts he knew.

"Zumned gaoliz..."

Suddenly, strange shouts echoed out. It was a harsh voice, speaking in an unknown language.

Darian looked around and saw bizarre beast-like figures. They came in all sizes and shapes, but all of them had bone spurs growing from their backs. They had no hair; the upper parts of their bodies were stripped of flesh, and their skin was black.

All of them were pointing bone spears at him.

At that moment, Darian realized he had landed on an altar. The spider was at the center and was likely a sacrifice.

He had been 'lucky' enough to fall directly onto the spider's head. Meanwhile, those strange creatures were shouting at him, and judging by their furious expressions, they were anything but friendly.

"Why are you yelling? I'm a god who came to guide you to divinity. Shouldn't you be kneeling and accepting my guidance?" Darian mocked, adopting an untouchable posture.

Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet shook. Darian was thrown into the air. The spider below him became enraged.

"Zihuou!"

With a scream that sounded like a death command, those life forms charged furiously toward him.

Darian didn't even have enough power to open his inventory and take out his weapons.

He let out a dry snort. In the next second, the vision in his eyes changed.

He could see the karma of everyone rushing at him. All of them had a black aura far above normal, to the point that they looked like Risen.

Darian felt relieved. At least his curse was still working properly.

"Warrrth!"

The creatures didn't seem interested in talking. They roared as their spears came stabbing in aggressively.

One of them, which looked the fastest and strongest, reached him first and attacked brutally.

But with a clean and agile movement, Darian dodged with extreme ease, even while carrying another person on his back.

The creature rushed past him, and then Darian's fists slammed into the back of its head.

It was a precise move that made the creature stagger. These life forms didn't seem to have much combat skill; their movements were full of openings. Combined with Darian's near-premonitory ability to read their karma, it was way too easy.

Quickly, Darian kicked the creature's arm and ripped the bone spear from its hands.

"Stop!" Darian shouted. He didn't want to just kill them outright, even seeing their karma.

But the creatures ignored him and kept attacking.

He couldn't communicate with them, but their intentions were obvious even without understanding the words. Their killing intent didn't lessen at all, and that angered him.

As he gripped the spear, Darian noticed a kind of energy flowing through it. Without hesitation, he activated his Domain, forcibly drawing that energy out.

*Woooooosh!*

He swung the bone spear in front of him, releasing a wave of power that swept hundreds of those life forms away.

"Oh?!"

Darian was genuinely surprised. He hadn't expected an attack using only the weapon's power to be that strong. He had no energy at all, yet he had still released an extremely powerful strike.

"Buyiba Suiyn!"

A life form covered in shimmering golden markings suddenly appeared and attacked.

Darian snorted and counterattacked with everything he had. The enemy quickly blocked with its own weapon.

Darian's spear exploded, but he managed to repel the creature. Surprisingly, the enemy's spear remained intact.

Darian deduced that those bone spears were special weapons. He couldn't release his full power, but thanks to his curse that forced energies out, he could still extract a bit.

"Stop! I don't want to fight you!" Darian shouted, gesturing for it to cease.

However, the creature didn't care. Seeing that he was unarmed, it attacked again.

At the same time, dozens of similar life forms rushed in, surrounding Darian.

"Fine. If we can't talk like reasonable beings, then we'll settle this the hard way."

Darian finally snapped. These life forms had intelligence and the ability to communicate, yet refused to do so. He wasn't a cold-blooded killer and always preferred to talk first. But he had put up with this many times already, and now he had reached his limit.

Darian reached out and grabbed the first spear he found on the ground, one he had thrown earlier.

The eyes of one of the creatures changed color, and strange syllables came out of its mouth. Darian deduced it was some kind of curse, using the power of that universe.

Darian moved instantly and drove the spear straight into the creature's face. Its head shattered, and it was flung away.

Darian was surprised. He realized that all their power was concentrated in their skeletons, or more precisely, in their marrow. Now he understood why they used bone spears as weapons. They were probably vital weapons.

He knew a bit about that because of that book. There were races that used parts of their own bodies as weapons. And since they were born that way, those weapons were better than anything manufactured, granting a natural advantage.

Darian grabbed another bone spear and swung it at the remaining creatures. This time, he activated all of the weapon's power at once. As a result, the spear exploded mid-swing.

Even so, a wave of power was released, blasting the life forms backward.

He was about to speak again when his expression changed abruptly. Instinctively, he dodged to the side.

A black bone spear pierced through the space where he had been. It grazed his right leg, opening a long wound.

Before the blood could even start pouring out, it coagulated. The wound darkened, and the skin around it began to petrify.

'Poison.'

Darian was shocked and even more furious. At first, he just wanted to scare them off, but now he wanted their lives.

That bone spear had appeared silently, catching him off guard. Now that he knew, it wouldn't happen again.

"Kuhah! Kuhah! Kuhah!"

The life forms vibrated with excitement when they saw Darian injured. Hundreds of them charged at once.

"Fools. Since you all want to die so badly, I'll grant your wish."