Damned Healer-Chapter 677: Desperate Moves

A deafening explosion echoed. Its immense power made the entire cemetery, and even the galaxy itself, tremble. Not even Alear managed to stay standing under the impact. Her scales appeared instantly, and her ears rang violently.

As for the other Mannaz, they coughed up blood. Most of them passed out, while the rest were left with their heads buzzing, temporarily losing most of their senses.

Among them were many nine-ring Spiritual Guardians, all completely stunned. The power of that explosion was more than enough to wipe everyone out without giving them any chance to defend themselves.

Darian and Niara were fully focused ahead, not knowing the outcome. All the Qi crystals were used at once, catching the Celestial Shadow completely off guard and defenseless. Any normal person wouldn't have been able to react; even an immortal could've easily died in that situation. But…

"Bastard…" Niara spat.

The two of them could still feel his fluctuations. They were extremely weak, but he had managed to survive.

Darian snorted. "Let's see how you're going to survive now."

Everyone who had come to this place was left safely at the edge of the cemetery. After confirming that everyone was fine, Alear, Darian, and Niara advanced without hesitation, ready to seize that moment and end everything.

Outside, the external assault had already begun.

The Cemetery was located in a distant galaxy, precisely the very center of all the Celestial Shadow's power.

The moment the explosion erupted, countless Risen moved in panic. But in perfect synchronization, the entire army coming from outside suddenly appeared.

Lucius was in command, issuing orders to the whole army, which was divided into six massive battalions. The four Spiritual Sovereigns commanded the immortal battalions. Alirio commanded the nine-ring battalion.

Lastly, Lucy commanded the inscription-core battalion, made up of the various races living in that universe. This was a support battalion, where she controlled the entire inscription connecting the army.

The six battalions advanced, covering every direction of the galaxy. Lucius and Lucy could pinpoint exactly where the strongest enemies were, so the immortals immediately split into groups, rushing toward the planets and unleashing total devastation.

However, the attack had barely begun when, all of a sudden, the entire galaxy went dark.

Wave after wave of heavenly corruption emerged, coming from hundreds of different planets.

Lucius narrowed his eyes, sensing something unexpected.

Across hundreds of different planets, it was as if spatial portals had opened. Inside them were small hidden worlds. From those, countless Risen Lords emerged.

All these years, Darian had known through Howlyn's information that there shouldn't even be a hundred Risen Lords. But now… millions of them appeared out of nowhere.

Heavenly corruption poured out from within the portals. The entire galaxy was covered in mere seconds, and not even the immortals could see or sense anything around them. Lucy and Lucius, however, thanks to their blessings, could perceive everything clearly.

"They're all weak! They just broke through!" Lucy's voice echoed in the minds of the entire army.

Lucius nodded. Most likely, after being beaten badly by Darian, the Celestial Shadow chose to burn all the corrupt resources it had accumulated over millions of years of ruling the universe. By doing so, it forcefully evolved all of its Risen Generals. Their power felt far below average compared to the Risen Lords they had encountered before.

The question was: why didn't it consume everything for itself? Why create a weak army of Risen Lords?

Everything happened incredibly fast. Then, to Lucius's surprise, all the newcomers shot upward, leaving the planets behind like streaks of lightning.

Lucius and Lucy could sense everything as if they were watching it directly, but the army couldn't. With all the Risen Lords scattering in every direction, it became impossible to even try commanding the troops, who were practically blind.

Without delay, the twins roared and activated their blessings to the maximum.

It was as if two white suns had appeared in the middle of that pitch-black galaxy. Within seconds, the heavenly corruption began to be purified, and the surroundings opened up again.

Once everyone in the army managed to get their bearings, Lucius's voice echoed in their minds.

"Everyone, to the center of the galaxy!"

The millions of Risen Lords converged toward a single location: the entrance to the Primordial Cemetery.

Inside it…

The entire Primordial Cemetery was covered by a thin grayish layer. That was the power of chaos. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Darian wouldn't allow that figure to escape, so before attacking, he set up the trap using the power of chaos. Now, that enemy was like a turtle inside a jar.

Physical escape was impossible, no matter how powerful it was. The only way out was to defeat whoever controlled it. Unfortunately for him, that option was even more impossible at that moment.

Darian, Niara, and Alear surrounded the Celestial Shadow from three directions.

Its once-glorious figure was now covered in bloody cracks, as if it were made of porcelain. Its aura was weak and barely noticeable. Its eyes emitted a pale light, as if its entire existence were a candle in the wind, about to be extinguished.

But… it didn't look desperate.

It was clear it could still fight and that it still had several cards left to play.

Darian had already been sure of this before. If not for the deep wounds he managed to inflict with the help of his mark, the chances of killing it would've been zero. The current situation changed that slightly, even if the odds were still slim. If that enemy gave him even a single opening, its existence would come to an end.

*Divine Dragon Possession*

Niara roared, her full-scale armor covering her body. Without waiting, radiating uncontrollable killing intent, she charged head-on.

The Celestial Shadow reacted instantly. On its forehead, a golden mark lit up.

"Die!"

Emerging from the Void behind it, Eleri shouted as the bone whip lashed out.

That figure's eyes changed. It recognized it, horrified. At the tip of the whip, a rune ignited; it was a sharpening rune seal!

From the right, a dozen feathers radiating the power of the winds sliced through the Void like blades.

From the left, Alear attacked with gigantic Yin blades.

From every direction, terrifying attacks surged forward. The feather-side attack was the weakest, but that was way too obvious. He realized Darian was lurking somewhere, outside the reach of his senses. This was an obvious trap.

Everything happened incredibly fast. In a desperate move, his entire body trembled. From within the cracks, corruption erupted, covering him like armor.

He chose the worst possible direction and practically hurled himself straight toward Eleri's whip, catching her off guard.

**CRACK!**

An explosive, shocking sound, like glass shattering, echoed through the area. That massive figure was completely blown apart.

Eleri was stunned. It was as if she had struck an empty shell.

Then, abruptly, she turned in another direction.

Very far from there, emerging from the sea of scarlet magma, an ethereal, serpentine figure appeared.

"Interesting," Darian muttered.

Its physique was identical to just a few seconds earlier, completely broken and weak. However, the golden mark on its forehead had completely gone out.

That was a power originating from the Spiritual Sovereigns. It was the enemy's main hidden trump card, the one that had barely saved it during the previous explosion. Now, it had used the last remnants of that power to move through the corruption existing at the bottom of the magma sea.

The Celestial Shadow had nowhere left to run, and now, that was over.

Even so, it still seemed to have a plan.

It could have appeared anywhere in that cemetery, but it chose that exact spot.

Outside.

All the millions of Risen Lords arrived at the planet where the entrance to the cemetery was located. They all waved, sending their cores toward the entrance…

They tried to pass through, but Darian's power of chaos blocked them.

Inside, the Celestial Shadow snorted. Then, without hesitation, it waved again.

Its body trembled, its light growing even dimmer, almost going out.

At that instant, Darian felt the laws of the universe shift. This was something only a primordial beast could do.

At the same time, outside, all the Risen Lords showed expressions of extreme pain and despair. They knew what was about to happen, but they couldn't resist.

*BOOM!*

Without delay, their bodies shook, then exploded into a black rain.

Thanks to the connection with their creator, even with the cemetery sealed by the power of chaos, their power flowed toward the Celestial Shadow, carried by the laws of the universe.

The entire universe was connected by these laws. It was like an invisible web that went beyond the power of space. Since primordial beasts were born from the universe to protect and help create life, they could manipulate this to some extent.

Thus, even physically trapped, the Celestial Shadow sacrificed all the millions of Risen Lords to gain strength.

Its body suddenly pulsed, like a beacon lighting up.

All its wounds recovered. But that was only on the physical level; its energies were still completely drained.

Darian immediately understood why it had wasted resources creating so many Risen Lords. It was like taking out a temporary loan, and thanks to the souls and lives of those Risen Lords, when they were sacrificed to generate power, their creator would receive far more back as a bonus.

It was a cruel but efficient method of extracting the maximum power from the little it still had.

'Brother!' Lucius sent a message to Darian as he arrived and saw the Risen Lords disappear.

Darian replied calmly, 'Don't waste time. Move everyone to destroy everything that exists in this galaxy. The enemy definitely has extra resources that can still be pulled inside through the laws of the universe.'

Lucius nodded and didn't waste a second, sending the troops in every direction.

Back inside…

That figure stared at Darian, its eyes filled with hatred and murderous intent.

"You think you trapped me? Hahaha… you're the ones trapped here with me!"

With its roar, the entire cemetery shook.

Alear's eyes widened.

She felt a chill run down her spine. A dense, suffocating sensation of death enveloped her completely.