Damned Healer

A maximum alert signal echoed through the entire sect. Immediately, all the most powerful figures moved in sync toward a single direction. The mid-level ones, or ordinary disciples, were warned to prepare for a possible battle.

On the southern side of the sect, a dense cloud of dust covered everything after a devastating strike against the wall's barrier.

Suddenly, a scarlet shadow appeared at the top of the walls. As the dust began to disperse, it revealed a massive red leopard, standing still, staring down at the ground with its amber eyes.

On the other side, on the ground, were eight figures, each from a different race, radiating dense and powerful auras.

"Sect Leader Mazur, we came to talk." A female voice echoed from among the eight.

The Leopard coldly stared at the Chromaraic woman who had spoken. "Talk? Why would I bother after everything?"

The moment he spoke, more than twenty figures appeared on top of the walls beside him. They were all the High Elders of the sect. They wielded weapons or clenched their claws, ready for a massive battle. But when they faced those eight, they all trembled.

After all, they were the eight leaders of the Wild World sects. Together with their leader, the nine most powerful of that place were gathered.

"Don't be reckless." A deep male voice sounded. "The eight of us came here personally exactly because we don't intend to fight... yet."

The Leopard snorted dryly. His gaze radiated intense hatred, but he also didn't want this battle. Not because he was afraid, but because he'd be forced to burn through too many of the sect's resources... and the consequences would be extreme.

"Say what you came to say."

The Chromaraic woman gave a faint smile. "It's simple. Two days ago, a new person left the desert and entered the Wild World. Turns out, he's someone we must capture no matter what, under orders from the Radiant King. The eight of us confirmed he's inside your sect."

All the High Elders' eyes changed, especially two of them, as a single figure immediately came to mind.

"What does that have to do with me?" The Leopard replied emotionlessly.

"I know we're enemies, sworn to kill you and destroy your sect. That hasn't changed. But the Radiant King's orders are absolute." A beast-man with the appearance of a rhinoceros spoke, then waved his hand.

A small ore floated in front of him, letting out a clicking sound.

Suddenly, the whole atmosphere shifted. It was like a spatial ring. A powerful natural energy flowed from inside that ore outward, making its contents clear.

"Our target must be a simple newly-accepted disciple in your sect. We're offering five thousand high-grade Yin and Yang Primordial Pills. We just want you to hand him over."

At those words, all the High Elders' eyes went wide.

Those pills contained the purest, most primordial essence of that world. They were vital to the sect, but it had been more than a hundred and fifty years since they had any. Five thousand? That would let the sect breathe again and give them a chance to recover.

But...

"Sect Leader." The High Elder commander of the Nature Institute spoke quickly.

The Leopard turned to her, and then noticed that the High Elder of the Battle Institute was also staring at him. It became clear to the sect leader that those two knew exactly who the enemy's target was.

They sent him mental messages, reporting recent events.

The enemies had said that the person in question had only arrived in the world and the sect a few days ago. Those two had already investigated and knew that Darian was a newly arrived disciple. After everything he had done, it couldn't be clearer.

When the Leopard heard it all, his eyes widened.

The other High Elders stayed silent in confusion. The sect leader thought deeply for a full minute. Then, he turned back to the eight enemies in front of him.

"We're not interested. If you want to take someone from my Wilding Kin Sect, you'll have to kill us first."

"WHAT?!" A cry of shock erupted among the High Elders.

Another spoke right after: "Sect Leader! That doesn't sound reasonable."

The Leopard didn't even turn to answer them. Upon hearing that, the eight on the ground changed expressions.

"Mazur, I don't think you understood the situation very well..." The Chromaraic woman spoke slowly, "We came to negotiate because we want to please the Radiant King and capture the target quickly. But... we don't mind taking him by force."

"Your sect is already on the verge of collapse, you bastard!" Another roared furiously. "Do you think we don't know? At your current pace, in two hundred years, all the resources from your three diagrams will be gone. If you don't hand him over, we'll attack with 100% of our strength. I guarantee you won't last even fifty years."

All the High Elders had heavy expressions. Those words were true. The sect had been plundered and cornered for more than five hundred years, but it still managed to stay alive because of the three diagrams it possessed.

All nine sects had three diagrams. They had been built in the distant past by nine brothers of an ancient demon race.

When the nine demons ascended to the final stage of the Trial, they wisely didn't leave behind the method of creating the diagrams... otherwise, the sects would eventually destroy themselves over them. Those demons tried to create a balance among the nine and left methods to stop something like that from happening in the future.

They were the founders of the current nine sects and didn't hate each other. In other words, the sects had once been very close in the past, almost as if they were one.

But all of that was destroyed by the Radiant King. He dominated the eight, and installed a competition among them to please him. As a result, the eight only united when following his orders; like destroying the Wilding Kin Sect, for example. The rest of the time, they just killed each other.

The eight sects understood it was impossible to destroy the Wilding Kin Sect as long as their diagrams still had power.

But to keep the diagrams active, resources from the world were still needed... exactly what the other sects were blocking the Wilding Kin Sect from obtaining.

That was the tactic of the eight sects allied with the Radiant King. They didn't need to attack with troops or suffer casualties. They just had to keep the Wilding Kin Sect trapped inside their walls, and over time, they'd lose everything and could be easily wiped out.

"Sect Leader, listen to us. It's not worth being prideful over a mere rookie disciple. With those resources being offered, we could try to turn the situation around and rise again!"

A Chromaraic High Elder spoke anxiously to the Leopard — and it was exactly what nearly all the others were thinking too.

The Leopard snorted dryly and then summoned a subtle barrier around them, stopping the distant eight from hearing the conversation.

"Mere disciple? No. This person isn't a mere disciple. He's our only hope."

Another High Elder shot back furiously: "What? That's impossible! We can't gamble our whole existence like this!"

"You really think those eight bastards would give us the chance to revive with our own hands? Are you an idiot? If they're willing to hand that over, it's because they're sure it won't make much difference." The Leopard said flatly. "Even if we manage to last a bit longer with those resources... what's the point of surviving while agonizing, living in constant fear?"

"But..."

"Enough. We may die, but we must never give up, or act like cowards." The Leopard sighed and lifted his gaze to the sky.

"This young man called Darian is the scariest figure who's ever entered our sect. I used to be proud that in the past, it only took me one hundred and thirty years to become a Master Instructor of the Battle Institute. That was one of the shortest times in sect history, and it even caught the attention of the former leader, who named me his successor... but... in just two days, he already became a Master-class Instructor... in two different institutes."

When they heard that, all the High Elders widened their eyes in disbelief.

"With him, I feel like we have a real chance to turn things around in the future. If we let this opportunity slip away, I'm sure everything will collapse soon enough. Fuck it if we only have fifty years, I'd rather fight with everything for this chance."

"B-but... we're betting everything on a stranger? He might not even be trustworthy!"

The Leopard snorted. "He received the curse of the Radiant King. That means we're his only possible allies if he wants to survive. Besides... did you hear about the nine thousand Heavenly Elemental Spirits, extremely young and pure, that entered the sect? He's the one who brought them, and all those little ones see him as the only one they trust and follow orders from. It's almost like he's their father. That alone tells me he won't abandon us, if we treat him the right way."

Everyone listened and fell into thought.

They knew the nature of the Heavenly Elemental Spirits. It was very rare for one of them to live long and ascend. When it happened, it meant they had been extremely lucky and managed to live for hundreds of years until they became intelligent.

Nine thousand, young and pure? That could only mean they'd been protected and trained by someone crazy enough to pull it off.

Mazur didn't mind betting everything on Darian, because within him was a real chance for his sect. Their time was running out anyway — it was better to risk it and fight for a chance at victory than to surrender.

Seeing that the High Elders understood his logic, at that moment, the Leopard dispelled the sound barrier and turned back to the eight waiting.

"I, leader of the Wilding Kin Sect, repeat: you'll have to step over my corpse and over my entire sect if you want to take that person. If that's all you had to say, get the hell out!"