Damned Healer-Chapter 692: Absolute Peak

In a distant galaxy.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the void and absolute darkness claimed this place. Everything there was like a graveyard consumed by corruption. Thousands of rocky planets drifted like forgotten tombs, no stars, no light, no hope.

The center of that galaxy was where the most powerful beings resided. In the past, across the entire universe, that region had the densest Qi and primordial energies, which made the planets larger and richer in resources. Now, the central region had become the cradle of the Risen Generals and Risen Commanders.

At that moment, space rippled subtly above one of the central planets.

In a desert overtaken by corruption, a figure opened its eyes.

It was a colossal humanoid. In life, a legendary Orc; now, a feared Risen General.

He stood up, his frantic gaze sweeping across the horizon. His clenched fists made the corrupted mist around him churn violently. He was searching for something, but found only emptiness.

He kept searching… and searching… but found nothing.

Fear, a feeling he should have long forgotten, crawled down his spine.

Without hesitation, he crushed a black crystal in his hand.

"Everyone, come!"

His roar echoed out, filled with inexplicable agony.

Space tore open. Within minutes, the sky was filled with distortions. Millions of Risen appeared, coming from every corner of the galaxy, covering the land and the heavens.

The army was ready. Millions of them. But before the General could give a single order—

**BUZZ!**

The entire planet trembled. The millions of Risen froze, eyes locked on the sky.

Up there, twelve pairs of crimson eyes, glowing like bloody stars, surrounded the planet at perfect angles.

A voice in unison, cold and absolute, reverberated through the atmosphere:

*Swallow the Heavens, Devour the Earth!*

The void turned into twelve starving abysses.

"WHAT?!"

The Risen General roared, but terror paralyzed his limbs. Gravity inverted. Millions of Risen were ripped from the ground like dust, sucked toward the sky at terrifying speed.

Screams and desperate roars filled the air.

In seconds, the army of millions vanished. Only the General remained, claws dug into the ground, desperately fighting to hold onto his existence.

Suddenly, the force disappeared.

Silence returned, heavy and suffocating. Then a shadow dropped from the black clouds, landing a few meters in front of him.

The Risen General froze. Before him stood a titanic black wolf, staring at him with cold, murderous eyes.

"This… an Abyssal Corrupted Wolf?!"

*ROAR!*

The wolf's roar split the heavens like thunder.

Suddenly, its entire body mutated, red energy blooming like flames across it.

The Risen's eyes widened. He had never felt something like this before. Despair flooded his entire being. But it didn't last long—

*CRACK!*

The movement was a blur. The wolf struck with its claws, slicing through the fabric of space.

The General felt his body split in half before he could even process the attack. Normally, his corruption-fed regeneration would save him, but something was wrong.

Red lines slithered through his wounds, sealing his powers.

That was the Nether Curse.

In the next instant, a colossal claw came down a second time, extinguishing the light in his eyes forever.

…

High above, Darian appeared with a satisfied look. His plan had worked perfectly.

Primal Hunting Will made the leader of a vast region of the galaxy feel overwhelming, irrational fear. Without hesitation, he summoned all his servants. But that only made things easier for the Wolves, who could wipe out countless enemies in mere seconds.

Swallow the Heavens, Devour the Earth was a terrifying technique. Anything below the user's level simply couldn't react in time to avoid being devoured. With just a dozen wolves, it was easy to cover an entire planet.

The combination of the two techniques made cleaning up the galaxy much easier. But obviously, even if Darian had a hundred thousand years, it wouldn't be enough to clear the entire universe of Risen with just that.

After confirming the plan worked, Darian turned around. Niara was there, nodding lightly, full of determination.

Darian focused on his inventory. Inside it was the key piece for everything to work.

It was this universe's Qi core, stolen by the Celestial Shadow and previously sealed in the Primordial Cemetery.

Suddenly, the entire galaxy lit up in vibrant fluorescent green. Before space itself could process the change, an overwhelming draconic pressure erupted, making reality groan.

Darian turned to Niara and saw her eyes closed. She floated, wrapped in the colossal shadow of the Divine Dragon.

The manifestation was so tangible and majestic that even Darian felt a chill. The eyes of the mystical creature locked onto him — a gaze carrying the weight of eras. Yet at the same time, he saw his wife there, filled with confidence and will.

He took a deep breath, then opened his hand.

That core pulsed, and a heavenly blue light ignited.

It lasted less than a second, then everything vanished. That core disappeared, as if it had stepped into the void on its own.

It was the laws of the universe moving, taking back what should never have been removed.

"Go!" Darian said quickly, toward Niara.

She snorted. At the center of her chest, a tiny point of light burst out.

It was this universe's Immortal Chaos Essence. Now that she had reached the mortal limit, her control over it had skyrocketed.

**RUMBLE!**

A titanic roar shook existence itself. It didn't come from one direction, but from all of them at once. It was the sound of a cosmic dam breaking after millennia.

Then the spectacle began.

Hundreds of bluish points appeared in the void, shining like newborn supernovas. Qi, the pure energy of creation, began to pour back into the fabric of space.

Darian watched, frozen.

The Qi didn't just flow; it wove an impossible mantle of light that spread across every inch of the cosmos. It shone like the light of the sun. Wherever that light touched, reality changed.

The corruption that dominated 99% of the galaxies began to hiss and ripple violently. The universe was expelling a foreign body.

Light and darkness could no longer coexist.

Darian focused on Niara, watching her sweat nonstop, her face twisted in strain. She was making an unimaginable effort, yet she still managed to manipulate the laws of the universe to be as brutal and aggressive as possible.

The Celestial Shadow had removed the Qi core in the past because, if he hadn't, his corruption would never have been able to cover the entire universe. Qi was a pure and natural energy that, upon touching things that shouldn't exist, was automatically commanded by the laws of the universe to eliminate them.

Of course, without Niara's help, that process would've taken millions of years. Now, everything was happening in minutes.

Within a few minutes, Niara coughed up blood. Her skin turned pale.

Before she collapsed, she felt warmth covering her body, as if filling her completely. Her mind relaxed, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Darian wrapped her in his arms, anchoring her soul.

Supported by him, she gave everything she had left.

From her four cores, the remaining energy surged out like a final tsunami. New bursts of light exploded in distant points, flooding the last strongholds of darkness. The universe trembled one final time, now in harmony.

Minutes passed until silence and stability finally returned.

Niara opened her eyes, completely exhausted. She met Darian's gaze, now overflowing with gentleness and warmth.

"Good job. It's done, you can rest now," he whispered.

Niara gave a weak smile, closed her eyes, and surrendered to deep sleep in his arms.

Darian turned around.

Right behind him, a flying ship was waiting. At its bow, Lucy and Lucius saw his look and nodded.

Everything was ready.

At that moment, in 99.99% of the galaxies and planets of the universe, where only common Risen or Risen Chiefs existed, an apocalypse began.

All corruption was being purified by the laws of the universe. That meant Darian didn't need to waste time in those places.

Only 0.01% would remain, around 2 billion galaxies, each with thousands of planets filled with enemies.

Before this, Darian had divided his entire army into 3 million groups. Among them were many Abyssal Corrupted Wolves and immortals.

Each group would go to one galaxy. The plan was to use the same tactic as before: frighten the most powerful ones and force them, in desperation, to summon all their servants. Or the immortals would go all out, using their blessings and devastating tactics, supported by pills and inscriptions.

Niara would recover in a day and start using her power again to help purify everything. Combined, all of this meant that, on average, every twenty-four hours, each group could wipe out all the planets with Risen in a galaxy.

The Celestial Shadow wouldn't move to help them. And there were no Risen Lords left in the universe. As for the others, they didn't have enough power to try anything.

So two years was a very reasonable time to completely cleanse the galaxy.

---

After sending all the groups to attack, Darian returned to the academy with Niara.

She needed to rest. He…

…was anxious and euphoric.

After laying her on the bed, Darian closed his eyes in a meditative position.

At that second, an infinite amount of Merit Power moved toward him.

Yes, since Niara was the main one responsible for the death of countless Risen, and she was his partner, everything went into his account.

Darian's heart was racing. With each passing day, more and more Merit Power would come to him. Now he was ascending in a straight line toward the top.

***

Two years passed very quickly.

At that moment, Niara appeared in the skies of planet Shadowheart and beat her wings, heading straight for the Academy's room.

She was anxious and restless, because she felt something incredible coming from him. Inside the room, she saw Darian with his eyes closed.

At that second, he opened them.

A golden light ignited, illuminating the world.

"Wow!"

Niara broke into a wide, excited smile.

Darian took a deep breath.

He did it.

In six months, he broke through and reached eight rings, along with the core refinement.

In two years, he managed to nurture all four of his cores and rings to the maximum.

Now…

Nine rings.

At the same time, all his cores completed the nine cycles.

Everything was done. He had reached the absolute peak a mortal could achieve.

…

Far away from there, several gazes were focused on Darian without him knowing.

Some carried proud smiles.

Others, curiosity.

In one of those gazes, there was clear rage and killing intent.

But all of them were certain.

In millions and millions of years, since the current Heaven's Will ascended, there had never been a mortal with potential and power even remotely close to his.