Damned Healer-Chapter 605: Simple Life

After Ailik finished explaining everything, she looked into Darian's eyes with an expression full of expectation.

Darian sighed. He had arrived recently and wanted to return to his own universe as quickly as possible. Still, he trusted that Heaven's Will had brought him to this universe for an important reason. Because of that, he would investigate carefully and then leave.

'I came from a place much farther away than you can imagine,' he said mentally, as honestly as he could. 'I won't stay here for long, and when I leave, I might never come back to this place.'

Hearing that, her eyes shone like stars. 'I don't want to stay in this small pond. I don't mind leaving. Sir Darian is very strong and must be someone with many allies and enemies. I may seem weak right now, but I will be able to use all my strength, and I will be useful to you.'

'It's true, I have many allies, but all of them live extremely restrained lives, fully dedicated to becoming stronger. You have no idea how difficult that is for everyone, including me. Anyone close to me ends up with a huge target on their back, and if they relax even a little, they'll meet a miserable end. Because of that, I can't accept new allies randomly,' Darian replied, direct and pragmatic.

Ailik took a deep breath. 'I… I won't relax. Just give me a chance. We barely know each other, but I'll prove my worth. We have a very strong connection. I'm sure I can help you in a way no one else can.'

Darian nodded, saying nothing more. She couldn't imagine just how dangerous the path she wanted to follow really was.

Seeing the two of them exchanging silent looks, Zaowe, behind them, couldn't hold back:

"So? Isn't the Blood Moon Falcon fast?"

Darian curved his lips slightly. That falcon wasn't slow, but it was still far from Niara's speed, and even Awel's. Unfortunately, both of them were out of action, so this Divine Beast was still quite useful.

"Ignore him. He's annoying," Ailik said irritably. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Darian shook his head. "Actually, I'm pretty jealous of you two."

"Jealous of us? What's there to be jealous of?" Zaowe asked, curious.

"I envy how young and carefree you are. You can still argue and fight. I can't. My wife and I don't even have time to fight. We don't even have time to talk about random things or be carefree," Darian said, with a hint of bitterness.

He was always racing against time just to survive. He and Niara had spent a few years together in isolation, but even then, Darian had to spend half his day completely focused, with a noose around his neck.

When they got married, they stayed together for three months, but Darian's worries didn't lessen. He was always thinking about the next step. He never relaxed, and the days when he was a small Slug and Niara kept teasing him felt like a magical time he deeply missed.

"He's just a fool, and an annoying fool at that," Ailik said dryly.

"He's a fool because he cares. If he could stay calm in a situation like this, it would mean he doesn't care about you," Darian said lightly.

Ailik snorted. She cared about Zaowe too, but only as a friend or a brother.

She had lived her entire life feeling like a bird trapped in a cage. But with Darian's appearance, it was as if she had finally been given a chance at freedom, a chance to spread her wings and fly far away.

She didn't want to bind herself to someone, stay in the tribe, and live a standard life. Deep down, ever since the day she was born, she had felt an intense urge to run away somewhere distant, as if her destiny wasn't something as small as living forever fighting against the Nether Beasts.

The truth was that this war would never end. Except for rare moments like the one Darian had witnessed, both sides maintained a kind of balance, and no one would ever truly win.

Of course, she loved her father and wanted to help her race live more safely. It was because of that desire that she trained and lived the way she did until that day. But now, everything she had been suppressing inside had been released.

Zaowe's expression grew darker and darker, subtly sensing what Ailik was thinking… in a distorted way.

Then, at that moment, the sky darkened. The Blood Moon Falcon let out a sharp cry and dove from the sky toward the forest.

"It's a Red-Eyes Black Eagle!" Zaowe shouted, his voice trembling. "I told you this guy would bring us misfortune! We really ran into an adult Red-Eyes Black Eagle. We're dead!"

A gigantic black eagle descended from the sky. Its feathers were covered in scale-like patterns, and its aura was extremely oppressive. It was a Demonic Beast and, just as Ailik had said before, all of them were slaves of the Nether Beasts.

"We're no match for it. This beast is very dumb and hasn't noticed us yet; its target is our mount. Let's split up and attack while the Blood Moon Falcon distracts it. Its weak points are the eyes, the base of the beak, the abdomen, and—Darian, what the hell are you doing?!"

Zaowe was in the middle of laying out a battle plan when Darian shot into the sky, heading straight toward the eagle above.

Suddenly, he manipulated a bit of the space around him. Then he threw a punch straight into the center of the Beast, hitting it head-on.

Zaowe and Ailik's eyes went wide. Both of them felt a terrifying pressure in Darian's attack.

At that very instant, the heavens trembled, and the eagle let out a terrifying roar of pain.

*BOOM!*

That dreadful demonic beast slammed into the ground, opening up a gigantic crater. A wave of earth spread outward, covering the colossal trees around it.

Ailik and Zaowe were completely stunned. The Red-Eyes Black Eagle was a beast whose speed was known as the greatest among Divine and Demonic Beasts. A monster that terrifying was something only the tribe leader could defeat, and even then, only with luck. In that situation, the best option would have been to think of a way to escape.

However, if they ran, they would have to sacrifice their mount. Ailik was definitely not willing to do that, so Zaowe wanted to please her and take the risk of fighting a bit. Even so, he knew their chances of victory were extremely slim. His arrows simply couldn't pierce the beast's defenses.

And yet, they saw Darian crush it with a single attack… both of them were left gaping, completely incredulous.

Darian snorted. Fighting with just his body was a bit frustrating, but now he could use his spiritual root to manipulate the space around him. It worked as good practice.

The ground shook a few times as the giant eagle struggled out of the soil. It let out an ear-splitting screech that made the sky tremble.

"It's not dead!"

Zaowe and Ailik's expressions changed instantly, and both of them retreated in a hurry.

They dove into the forest, since that was the only way to survive. However, they suddenly realized that the Red-Eyes Black Eagle wasn't attacking after emerging from the ground. It simply stayed there, motionless.

Darian walked closer, and the creature crouched down, allowing him to climb onto its back.

The two of them couldn't believe what they were seeing. Darian gestured with his hand. "Let's change mounts. You can send the Blood Moon Falcon back."

Ailik's eyes shone brightly. Zaowe, on the other hand, slowly approached and asked nervously, "Y-You subdued it?"

"Get on. It'll be a bit faster," Darian said flatly.

After Ailik ordered the Falcon to return, the three of them climbed onto the new mount's back, and it took off, turning into a streak of light cutting through the air. It was definitely much faster, more than twice as fast as the previous one.

The creature's main strength was its speed, but its intelligence and defenses were below average. Darian attacked it, shocking it and causing pain, and then, upon contact, manipulated the power of the mind and soul within it.

It was a Beast Taming technique he had read about in the past, one that only worked perfectly on very foolish beasts.

Ailik was amazed by Darian's ability and showed a wide smile on her face. That irritated Zaowe even more, though he remained silent.

"Ailik, you should go to the front and guide it so it doesn't fly the wrong way," Darian said lightly.

She ran up to the creature's head, pointing out the direction. Her excitement was like that of a child who had just gotten a new toy.

Now, only the two of them remained on the eagle's back. Darian looked at the gloomy and dejected Zaowe and shook his head. "You really are a coward. You're just going to give up like that?"

"I'm not a coward… it's just…" His voice faltered, unable to find the right words.

Darian snorted. "Really? It looks like you're giving up just because you felt inferior. I wasn't born the way I am now. I started from the lowest possible point and climbed the mountain step by step. And you? Are you going to stop halfway and turn back? Where I come from, men like that are called cowards."

Zaowe shot Darian a furious look, but it quickly faded. He wanted to fight back, but he couldn't gather even the slightest will to do so. After seeing Darian bring down that Demonic Beast with a single attack, he wasn't an idiot.

Darian was trying to help that young man. Maybe Ailik would give up on leaving and choose to live a normal, simple life. Living like that wasn't a bad thing; Darian even envied those who could.

It wasn't clear whether Zaowe fully understood his words, but after a few minutes, he slowly walked toward Ailik, who was at the eagle's head.

As soon as he reached her side, the excited expression she had while commanding the creature vanished, replaced by an icy look.

She turned and saw Darian sitting farther back. He had moved Niara from his back into his arms and now had a tender look on his face as he gently stroked her long, blue hair. Ailik felt the genuine bond he had with her, as if nothing in the world mattered more.

She sighed. Zaowe was someone with good intentions. But after seeing that couple, she was even more certain that her destiny was not in that place.

Ailik continued to command the eagle coldly, while Zaowe remained seated beside her, head lowered. He followed in silence, but internally… his mind now refused to give up. He had understood Darian's message, even if in a rather extreme way.

Darian couldn't guess what he was thinking. After all, everyone absorbed advice through their own perspective.

They flew swiftly through the forest. There were other Demonic Beasts along the way, but all of them fled upon sensing the aura of the Red-Eyes Black Eagle.

Ahead of them, the ancestral trees grew even more majestic, overflowing with life energy. Darian finally spotted a particularly gigantic tree, rising toward the heavens. The stars seemed to hover among its branches.

"Darian, we've arrived. This is our God," Ailik announced. She jumped down, bowing from the top of a tree toward the giant tree while murmuring some ancient words.