Damned Healer

Rolling back a bit in time.

Outside that swamp, all the demons from the Bloodnet Sect were calmly waiting for the High Elders to return. With 10 of them inside, any problem could be handled easily. As for the intruder, they were ready to capture him too.

But…

After a while, everyone saw, right in the middle of the mountain, hundreds of demonic figures suddenly appearing and rushing out all at once.

It was so unexpected that it took them a few seconds to realize—those demonic figures… weren't alive anymore.

"!"

Out of nowhere, a colossal creature came out, making everyone's eyes widen in shock. Along with it, a flat, indifferent voice rang out:

"I'll be quick—get the hell out of here. I'll give you exactly two minutes. Whoever wants to live can leave. After that, if any demon's still around, don't blame me for being cruel."

***

Back to the present. Inside the Wilding Kin Sect.

All the High Elders were shaken by Leader Mazur's words. None of them could even begin to imagine what might have happened.

The leopard immediately turned toward the window and dashed, leaping out of the tower. Even more confused, the High Elders quickly followed.

They shot forward like lightning toward the sect's northern walls. But… before they could even get there, they saw a "mountain" moving in that direction. Startled, all the High Elders pulled their weapons, ready to fight.

Mazur reached the top of the wall, stopped, and stared hard at that "mountain," his heart pounding like crazy. That thing was a demonic shadow! He was sure, because in the past it had been someone very well-known. His death in that swamp had spread through all the sects, making it clear how dangerous that place was.

It was a demon-beast hybrid, something like a crocodile. Its body was drenched in black liquid and it gave off a heavy death Yin… like it had crossed through a sea of demonic blood.

"W-what the…" The High Elders arrived and stared in panic.

Then they saw it… on top of that colossal figure stood a small humanoid figure.

Darian was slowly approaching while everyone just stared at him in shock. A few meters from the sect's entrance, his glorious mount stopped.

"Stay here. If anyone attacks you, kill them." Darian said calmly, then turned and leapt down.

He walked toward the entrance like nothing had happened. Suddenly, everyone dropped in front of him, staring hard.

He smiled faintly. "Got a little lucky, so didn't really need to call for help."

"What happened to the Bloodnet Sect?" Mazur asked quickly.

"Those who went into the swamp—well, even after my warning, they insisted on killing themselves… demons can be pretty stubborn sometimes." Darian sighed with fake resignation, then gestured toward the giant creature behind him.

"As for the ones outside… well, after Sir Chompsalot had a little fun with them, the rest seemed to get the message and bolted in a panic."

*CRUNCH! CRUNCH!*

Sir Chompsalot reacted to Darian's words, opening and closing his jaws, shaking the air and reminding everyone just how destructive his bite was.

That made everyone's eyes go wide. A demonic shadow was known for having zero intelligence. But that crocodile was clearly reacting to Darian's words, even seeming to understand them. How was that even possible?

Darian smiled inside. That thing wasn't just some regular shadow anymore, all thanks to that high-level necromancy technique. The mark created a strong link between master and creature, letting it understand and respond to commands way better. It almost looked like it had intelligence—but if anyone else tried giving it orders, they'd find out real quick it was pointless.

"You…" a High Elder muttered.

Darian waved his hand casually. "He's completely under my control, no worries. We need to have a serious private talk."

Mazur took a deep breath and nodded. He gave one last glance at the giant figure, then opened the gates to let Darian in.

They rushed straight to the main building, where—at Darian's request—the leader sealed everything so no fluctuations would leak from the meeting room.

Darian sat at the edge of the round table, with all twenty High Elders and the leader staring right at him.

"Did you guys have any clue about the Bloodnet Sect's secret weapon?"

Darian asked, and Mazur narrowed his eyes. He thought for a moment before answering:

"I once heard rumors about it from the old sect leader. But we never managed to get any solid info. What I heard was that they could do something kinda like the Order Law in the desert, directing shadows wherever they wanted without using the system. But here in the Wild World, that's impossible. If it were true, they'd have terrifying power. Honestly, I always thought it was just made up to scare the other sects."

The High Elders tensed up as they heard that for the first time.

The Order Law was a weird thing, capable of subtly nudging shadows around. It wasn't real control or dominion—far from it. A good example would be putting candy somewhere to attract ants to devour it. The Order Law basically lured shadows into attacking something almost by instinct. Abscess was the only one who could really use it in ways no one else could.

But only the low-level shadows of the desert were strongly affected and easy to manipulate. In the Wild World, the shadows were way stronger. If someone tried using that Law on one, at best they could control a single shadow for a few seconds.

The Law of Darkness was similar. In the Wild World, where everyone was much stronger, that black powder had almost no effect. Those two Laws were only useful in the desert's first phase, nearly useless in the second, but in the third… that's when their power bloomed again.

"I see. Actually, it's way worse…" Darian started explaining in simple terms.

Everyone listened as he told them that, yeah, that sect really did have a shadow-controlling technique. It was real, and unbelievable. But… Darian got lucky: in the central region, he found a demon High Elder surrounded by shadows, one step from death.

He saw him use a method, sacrificing his bloodline to control a powerful shadow. But even then it wasn't enough, and in the end, both the demon and the shadows died.

Darian acted fast and managed to analyze the body of the shadow that had been controlled. There, he found a mark in its primordial core. He studied it in detail and figured out that, with his own demonic bloodline, he could create something similar to that mark.

He admitted that even he hadn't believed it would actually work. But… the proof was standing outside the sect right now.

Then he explained that his rune could control multiple shadows at once, and that he'd used it to bring chaos and destruction among the demons. That's how he came back to the sect victorious—and with the most powerful shadow from that place as his trophy.

He made up a lie to justify it all, but it wasn't completely fake.

"Looks like my replica of the demons' mark works a little differently… I can actually bring the shadows with me and make them fight for me. But those guys from that sect seem to have some limitations." Seeing all the doubtful, disbelieving looks around the table, Darian quickly added: "Anyway, the details don't really matter. Just look at what I brought."

It was all so magical and hard to believe. To change the focus and keep them from thinking too much about the holes in his lie, Darian opened his inventory.

Suddenly… the entire meeting room changed.

Everything went dark, completely flooded with primordial power.

Everyone jumped out of their seats, eyes wide in total shock.

Mazur spoke, stunned: "What did you do?! How is this even…"

"I managed to store all the corruption and bring it back here. I already absorbed all I could and I'm full. You guys can keep the rest." Darian replied quickly, then waved his hand, shifting all the primordial power in the room into a storage crystal.

Then he pulled out hundreds of other crystals, filling them with primordial power and laying them out slowly on the table.

Ten, a hundred, three hundred, seven hundred…

After filling them all in just a few minutes, he turned to face everyone. They all stared at him with strange expressions.

"What? Didn't the sect want this?" he asked with an innocent look.

No one answered—they couldn't even think straight.

Darian gave a faint smile. "Well, now that I've 'explained' what happened… we need to talk about the future."