Damned Healer-Chapter 657: Blessings

The moment Alear agreed to take the risk, Darian took a deep breath and spoke calmly. "Great. Then we've got a lot of work ahead of us. You should start by gathering your entire army and announcing that you'll be the new leader of this universe."

Alear heard that, and her expression grew tense. With a snort, she nodded.

"I have a few ideas, but I need Ailik to wake up so we can run some tests..."

Darian kept explaining to Alear everything he had experienced in that universe. When he talked about Ailik, who was unconscious and being carried by Tir, Alear was surprised.

Even she had already tried to control the Empire's Sacred Treasure and failed to do it directly. Even Darian had spent almost a year studying one of the Treasures and could only use it in a basic way. Ailik really was an absurd talent.

"You need to be known throughout the entire universe. But it can't be something as simple as admiration; everyone has to worship you as the savior of this universe," Darian continued seriously. "Of course, just doing that on the surface doesn't guarantee you'll be able to fuse with the Immortal Chaos Essence; countless immortals tried in the past and failed. That's why we're going to work to truly change everything."

Alear nodded, clenching her fists.

...

Half a day later, Ailik and Ramel woke up, fully recovered.

In the meantime, Alear went with her army to the city. She announced that she would take command, not just of that city, but of the entire universe. In that city, everyone accepted it with smiles on their faces. The real problem was convincing the other places.

After a brief talk and some tests with Ailik, Darian had Alear announce that she would deal with the Nether Beasts.

With that, her entire army gathered and moved toward a specific island, joining Darian, Niara, and Ailik.

No one knew where the most powerful Nether Beasts lived. That was because they could hide extremely well and change islands easily, traveling through the black sea from within it.

All the other races needed to burn resources and use flashy methods to do that, but the Nether Beasts could move between islands silently, hiding inside the sea without dying.

Unfortunately for the Nether Beasts, all the strongest ones had already been killed by Niara before. As for Darian, he could easily sense the direction where the extremely dense black karma of many of them was concentrated.

They only had to follow the karma to find an island, the one where the largest number of them were gathered.

Alear's entire army was summoned, but their goal wasn't to fight.

Everyone was confused because she ordered them to buy recording treasures, and each of them had to record everything from their own point of view.

In the end, they didn't really mind. When they arrived on the island, more than five thousand soldiers were calm. They never imagined that the random and relatively nearby island was actually where the Nether Beasts were living at that moment. No one had ever known where they were, and predicting it was considered impossible.

But Darian, who was right behind Alear, mentally pointed out the location, and she led everyone toward an ordinary forest on that island.

As soon as they entered, it didn't take long for massive movement to erupt out of nowhere.

The soldiers drew their weapons in panic. In seconds, more than a hundred thousand Nether Beasts appeared together in that forest.

The situation quickly became terrifying. But...

A figure leaped into the sky.

"All of you! I came here to help you, listen to my command!"

Alear roared, her voice echoing like heavenly thunder. Her words carried a firm yet enchanting tone, like that of a goddess naturally radiating an overwhelming presence.

Her entire body pulsed, and her scales shone like a sacred light, beautiful and imposing.

All the soldiers looked up, feeling their hearts race. Alear was their supreme leader, but at the same time, the greatest inspiration of their lives.

In that moment of shock, Darian took out a small object. It was a Sacred Treasure no one knew, one he had received from Sylvanos. It could control the power of the Nether, and he had spent a long time studying it to the fullest.

At the same time, Ailik held his hand and closed her eyes, focusing as much as she could. She was holding the Sacred Treasure she had received from Ramel, capable of controlling the power of the Void.

The two of them hadn't wasted almost a full year studying before going to Golden Sky Mountain for nothing. Darian had imagined it might be useful in a battle, in case something went wrong against the Divine Nether Beast. But in the end, everything flowed smoothly thanks to Alear's appearance, and he didn't need to use it.

Now, Darian's plan had changed. He understood why the Nether Beasts were the way they were and wanted to resolve it. They didn't really have a choice; their bodies and minds were completely overtaken by Nether corruption.

As for the solution… Darian already understood how Heaven's Will could act and send hints without breaking the rules. The fact that Heaven's Will had sent him to that exact island where Ailik lived, and made him meet the Nether Spirit Race, was the clue.

The Nether Spirits were the perfect balance between the power of the Nether and the Void. As for the Nethergod Spirits, like Ailik, they held a latent potential to control both forces together.

No one in that universe could manipulate the power of the Nether and the Void at the same time. Because of that, there were no techniques that combined the two, and everyone's cultivation used only the power of the Void. This severely crippled that race, making them use only one-third of their real strength.

And since none of the powers had strong and influential Nether Spirits, capable of using valuable resources and developing these things for their race, they ended up becoming a pathetic race, one that rarely ever reached the center of the universe.

'Master, I'm ready.' Ailik murmured mentally, fully focused. The third eye on her forehead opened.

*ROAR!!!*

The Nether Beasts roared in fury at Alear's words. They were chaotic, but they could think and understand speech. Still, they simply couldn't restrain their thirst for blood and their endless pursuit of power.

Now that an army had entered their territory, the only solution was to fight and kill them.

A massive bestial figure, resembling a winged tyrannosaurus rex, led the total assault with its roar.

All the others roared in response and charged. The soldiers tightened their grip on their weapons in panic, but—

*Buzz!*

A subtle vibration in space was felt.

Suddenly, as if by magic, all the enemies froze in place.

Alear received a mental message and smiled. Then she spoke again, "I am the new ruler of this universe. All of you have received my blessing and no longer need to suffer."

Her voice echoed along with a wave of her hand. A soft, pure glow burst forth, covering all the paralyzed Nether Beasts and spreading throughout the forest.

That light was an artifact Darian carried with him. It didn't have great power; it was only meant to conceal all senses and energies within an area. It was useful for escaping or drawing attention, basically like a flash bomb, but more magical.

Darian and Ailik worked together.

Darian first subdued the Nether within the beasts, temporarily paralyzing them. He did everything using his curse together with the Sacred Treasure, making it extremely hard for anyone to imagine that it came from him.

Then, once the light covered everything, Ailik used her Sacred Treasure and moved the power of the Void from the environment into the bodies of the beasts.

Now, everything was in her hands. Darian had given her a task that everyone in the universe would laugh at for how ridiculous it sounded. To make things worse, Alear's artifact would only last five minutes. She had to finish everything within that time.

Even so, she didn't hesitate and gave it her all.

Ailik was certain: this was her great test. Darian and the others would be leaving this universe soon; if she wanted to go with them, she had to prove her worth now.

The minutes passed slowly.

The soldiers could see ahead with some effort, and the recordings were still working, capturing everything. Everyone could see the Nether Beasts frozen in place, but for some reason, their bodies were trembling and veins bulged under their skin, as if they were feeling unimaginable pain.

Not a single soldier could sense that the ones doing all the dirty work were right behind them.

When the light weakened, losing its strength…

Ailik staggered, and Darian quickly caught her.

In the next instant, Tir was suddenly kicked out of the inventory by his two sisters. He appeared with a strange expression. Darian snorted and calmly handed Ailik over to him.

Up ahead, Alear gently beat her wings and landed in front of the Nether Beasts.

The soldiers' eyes went wide in panic.

"So? How was my blessing? How do you feel?" she asked with a slight smile, staring at the Nether Beasts.

All of those creatures fell silent, as if they couldn't understand what was happening. Their eyes were still wide open, and their bodies trembled softly.

"Don't worry, this won't go away. That uncontrollable urge, that insatiable hunger, and that craving to fight will no longer dominate you. Like I said, you are now under my command, and I have given you my blessing. No one will suffer if you listen to me properly."

Hearing that, the soldiers were stunned.

They thought they must have heard wrong. Was that really possible?

Silent seconds passed.

All the soldiers remained tense, staring at Alear alone, just a few meters away from a colossal army of enemies. Then—

*BANG*

With a sound that made the ground tremble, that gigantic Nether Beast, the winged tyrannosaurus-like one, fell to the ground, pressing its head against the earth.

"!"

The soldiers went completely catatonic. That was a sign of submission and respect among bestial creatures, the equivalent of kneeling for humanoids.

Alear smiled. "Great. Come with me. From today onward, all Nether Beasts will be blessed and will live in peace with the others. I declare that the war has come to an end."