Damned Healer-Chapter 679: New Roots Emerge

When Anti-Life appeared, the laws of the universe stirred. That was something that should not exist, an existential danger even to the universe itself.

All forms of life felt it; it was a terrifying sensation, as if something capable of ending all living worlds had been born.

But strangely, no one felt despair.

Everyone understood that death and absolute destruction are also promises of transformation. The end of a cycle is, in truth, the soil where new roots emerge.

Instinctively, everyone knew something grand was about to happen. This universe, which had been a mere millimeter away from total extinction, was now changing. The end of an era was approaching, and a complete rebirth was about to rise.

Back to the battle.

When Darian appeared at the enemy's back, the blade of the dagger in his hands changed, taking on a black appearance, filled with cracks that emitted a constant purple glow.

According to that book, this power was a calamity that went against all the rules of the world. With just its aura, all vegetation and natural life rotted away, while the vitality of animals and creatures was drained, rapidly aging them.

As for the direct power of Anti-life, when it struck living bodies, whether mortal or immortal, the touched part necrotized rapidly and, if it wasn't cut off immediately, the necrosis spread through the entire body, leading to total decomposition in mere seconds. In short, it was a terrible and sinister element, capable of devouring anything in a short time.

Tir could only create a small amount of it. When doing so, that power inevitably came into contact with its body. Even its dagger, made from the bones of a Primordial Dragon, was at that moment on the verge of being destroyed.

Fortunately, a rune shone on the blade of the dagger, and the destruction did not happen; that was a runic seal.

Going back a bit in time. Awel was the first to manage to obtain a runic sharpening seal. But for Tir and Eleri, that seemed impossible, even after so long.

So, during the two years they spent preparing, Awel had the idea of asking for other types of runic seals for Tir and Eleri to test.

In the end, her thoughts proved correct. Each runic seal had a level of difficulty and compatibility. Eleri still hadn't found anything she could implement, but Tir managed to add the runic seal called *Living Armament*.

In short, when activated, small life-filled meridians were created within the equipment, as if the material became a living organism. It was temporary, but those meridians facilitated the flow of power, making the weapon far more resilient and offensively powerful.

That runic seal was the solution Tir needed to properly use Anti-life. It had been able to create this power for some time already, but it was certain that using it would be suicide, since its true body would be destroyed, and there was also the risk of affecting Darian.

Now, because the meridians created by the runic seal on the weapon radiated life, the Anti-life that was created attacked that first, giving the dagger's body a chance to survive for one second.

It was like throwing a tempting bait for the tiger to devour, preventing it from biting you instead.

That one second was more than enough. Darian just needed to attack with everything he had and pour all his power into the enemy; then Tir would deactivate the runic seal, as if cutting off an arm.

Of course, in that process, the weapon would still suffer terrible damage, but it wouldn't be irreversible. Tir could slowly recover it over time.

Back to the present.

Darian didn't hesitate. The attack came like lightning, and the Celestial Shadow only had time to roar in despair, twisting its colossal mass at the very last second.

*CRACK!*

The sound of ancient scales breaking echoed. Because of its massive size, dodging was impossible. Darian's impact sent it flying away, leaving a trail of agony in the air.

"AHH!" That creature let out a visceral howl that reverberated like thunder.

Alear, Niara, and Darian watched as the monster was overtaken by purple cracks. A terrible aura seeped from the wounds, and the pain it showed made it clear just how devastating that was.

Suddenly, in a brutal move for survival, the creature split itself.

It severed its own lower half, the part Darian had infected with Anti-life. The discarded piece instantly rotted away, losing all vitality before it even hit the ground.

Niara snorted, clear disdain on her face. He had survived yet again.

In exchange for his life, he lost half his body. The damage was irreversible, but for someone who already planned to abandon the physical shell after absorbing Enfield's Bloodline, that didn't matter for the future. The problem was the present: his strength, already weakened, plummeted even further.

"KILL!"

Niara roared and attacked like a meteor.

The manifestation behind her moved in perfect sync. The shadow of the Divine Dragon wasn't a decoration, but something solid, as if it were an ethereal body.

That thing could use Niara's Bloodline and fight as if it were a True Dragon, moving according to her will, like an extra arm.

Her master, Yinou, had taught her how to use that power, as if Niara were a real dragon. Normally, she couldn't use those things, since she was human. But when she activated the manifestation, the shadow of her past came to life, able to use everything a Dragon could, thanks to the energy coming from her universe. The stronger the universe was, the more realistic and powerful the manifestation became.

With a roar that made the world tremble, the claws of that shadow tore through the air, splitting reality in two.

At the same time, Alear's manifestation reacted as well.

Alear still couldn't use even 10% of the true potential of her manifestation, since she never had a master to show her the way and had to learn on her own. Even so, the violet skies rippled, and a rain of countless blades appeared and shot forward. That was the concentration of power coming from her universe.

The Celestial Shadow's eyes went wide.

Even at his peak, he wouldn't dare underestimate that combined attack. Roaring with what little strength he had left, he raised a circular barrier of corruption.

**KBOOOOOM!**

An apocalyptic explosion shattered time and space. The entire small world of the Cemetery threatened to collapse, unable to withstand that level of power.

The Mannaz, who were far away, spat out large amounts of blood and felt as if their bodies were about to explode. But within the group, there were many Spiritual Guardians with nine rings and some Tanks, who managed to block part of the energy and protect them.

Amid the chaos, the Celestial Shadow managed to endure, but his barrier cracked and exploded.

But...

"!"

Like a ghost, Darian appeared behind the creature.

This time, Awel was in his hands. The sharpening runic seal shone intensely, and at the same time, all of her power erupted into a final strike.

*Blinding Break*

The world lost its color. Everything was swallowed by a greenish, cutting light. The only sound left was that of something being violently destroyed.

When space-time stabilized, the scene was desolate: scales and black flesh were scattered everywhere.

The triple movement had been perfect; Darian's strike hit him cleanly, with no defense at all.

Darian put Awel away and drew Eleri. His senses sharpened, locking onto a distant point at the edge of that world. There, an ethereal figure writhed.

It was the immortal soul of the Celestial Shadow.

They had completely destroyed his body. It was the body of a Primordial Beast, the same one he had taken millions of years to recover from past damage. Even so, three figures who were still mortals had destroyed it completely, without giving him any chance to truly fight back.

The horror in the creature's soul was palpable. He had never felt so much fear and rage, not even when he was beaten by the Divine Dragon. In fact, not even that Dragon at its peak would have destroyed his body so quickly.

"Tough fucking cockroach,"

Niara spat, filled with hatred. If she and Darian were just a little stronger, he would already be gone.

Darian snorted. That figure had nowhere to run, but he sensed something wrong and charged forward, attacking without mercy.

The trio stood at the center of that cemetery, while the enemy was at the very edge of the place. The distance between them was considerable, and Darian's techniques weren't focused on covering long distances. As for Ailik, he no longer had Void power after using it repeatedly.

So Darian had to move through space in a brute way.

When the Celestial Shadow saw Darian charging, his eyes lit up.

In one second, Darian closed the distance to five hundred meters. His dagger lit up, with Eleri releasing all of her power.

*Blinding Break*

Darian didn't waste time and attacked with everything he had, even from that distance.

At that moment, the figure in front of him became translucent, losing shape and light. Only his red eyes burned with maximum intensity.

**BOOOOM!!**

The entire cemetery shook, and reality collapsed. Darian's attack was the final blow, making that small world fall into total collapse.