Damned Healer

It was late in the day, in a desolate, frozen plain of the Wild World. At that moment, two clans had the entire area surrounded with an army of ten thousand. On one side stood the primal beasts; on the other, a mix of Aberrants and Fiendgods.

The whole place was shrouded in a pure white mist, while the cold dragged along a suffocating silence.

The army was a tense sea of aggressive eyes. Both clans wanted that eruption. But their rivalry had been put on hold by a bigger threat, forcing them to wait—to make sure *he* wouldn't show up.

*Buzz*

As night fell, a sound suddenly echoed out. It was the first warning of the coming eruption.

Everyone gripped their weapons tighter, snorting in relief. Given the distance from this place to the Wilding Kin Sect, and since the High Elders and their watchers hadn't sent any signals until now, it meant *he* wasn't coming to mess things up this time.

As both sides turned to face each other, ready for the battle command to be given...

The Elders suddenly felt a wave of elemental power and snapped their heads around in shock.

*Woooooosh!*

A furious typhoon ripped across the plain for an instant, forcing everyone to squeeze their eyes shut in surprise.

Then it passed. And standing ahead of them was a brand new army, only a thousand strong.

At the front, a young "hybrid" stared at them calmly. Floating around him were three faintly glowing runes.

Suddenly, one of them—a green one—flickered out and vanished.

This was a new ability the three youngsters had figured out, using the chaos power in their cores. It was something unique to their race: they could split into small runes and use their power remotely on a smaller scale.

It was Awel who had commanded the winds to bring the army here, before disappearing. The other two would give remote support, but the three of them were still inside the sect, ready to move for real if necessary.

"I'll be straight with you: get the hell out." Darian's words came out flat, without a shred of emotion in the silence.

"This entire eruption belongs to the Wilding Kin Sect. You decide if you wanna stay and die, or leave on your own. I won't give second chances."

Darian spoke calmly, though he already knew what the obvious answer would be. Still, he had to say it—for the innocent people in the sects.

*Buzz*

The second warning echoed.

"Time's up." His tone was cold, and he pointed forward. "Clear the place."

Right away, the whole army—five hundred Heavenly Elemental Spirits and five hundred sect members of all kinds—unsheathed their weapons.

They all activated their system power, making elemental runes flare across their domains.

"You damn traitor bastard! You think you'll get away this time?! Hahahaha!"

Suddenly, dozens of powerful figures appeared in the skies—members of the two sects. Elders and High Elders, all with seventy to ninety full cycles, the power elite of the Wild World.

Technically, Darian had the right to fight for the eruption, since he was a newcomer. But obviously, the sects weren't about to follow the rules they themselves had set.

"A hybrid, son of traitors... you think you're invincible and can do whatever you want?" a demon roared with a mocking expression.

After everything that happened, the sects had dug as deep as they could into Darian and came to a single "logical" conclusion: he was the son of some powerful demon from the Bloodnet Sect who had gotten his hands on a secret technique. That demon had betrayed them, and Darian, with his scary talent, managed to use that technique.

The Bloodnet Sect had been forced to reveal some of the flaws of the technique to the other sects. They explained that the dominated shadows had to carry demon blood mixed with another race, and that there were limits: not many commands could be given, and a shadow couldn't be controlled for long.

With that in mind, everyone assumed Darian would need to get new shadows every time he wanted to fight.

His raids on dangerous places were seen as nothing but desperate attempts to gather resources—since, in theory, it should be nearly impossible to find shadows he could dominate in those places.

So, for this eruption, the two sects had joined forces to wipe out every shadow in a wide area around the plain. On top of that, they kept constant watchers around the Wilding Kin Sect to monitor its movements.

They were absolutely sure he wouldn't make it out alive if he was foolish enough to show up.

But Darian... only gave a cold smile.

Up until that moment, he had always either run or used tricks to get past his enemies. When he left the swamp, he had used the shadows to trigger that strange explosion—but no one ever figured out how it happened, thinking it was just some freak accident.

Right then, Darian slowly closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, a blinding white light burst out like a beacon, while his entire body was swallowed by darkness.

He hadn't wasted the chance when he was on the Yang side, filling his star completely. Now, both the Yin and Yang stars lit up together, at full force, for the very first time.

The whole environment shifted in a brutal way. A suffocating primordial power poured out of his body like a tsunami. Every enemy's eyes went wide—they could feel a mortal pressure crushing their very souls.

An aura of violence and power radiated from Darian's body. The Darian standing there looked like both a demon king and a divine god. It was like some invincible being had awakened, glaring at everyone with chilling indifference.

The ground trembled as countless shards of shattered stone floated up around him. A moment later, those stones crumbled into dust under overwhelming pressure.

All the Elders and High Elders stared at Darian in shock.

The five hundred Heavenly Elemental Spirits grinned with joy, while the other sect members stood just as stunned.

Darian snorted. In the very next instant, he vanished.

*BANG!*

The only sound was bones snapping. When they turned, they saw Darian after a sudden strike against a High Elder in the skies.

No one had managed to see or even sense anything during that move.

With both stars filled with primordial power, Darian could now use Tempest Blink without causing a single disturbance.

The High Elder was sent flying across the skies from the brutal hit. But then, as if cutting right through the void itself, Darian appeared behind him. Without hesitation, he twisted his body and swung a merciless kick.

*BANG!*

His leg smashed straight into the enemy's face, slamming him down toward the ground.

But... before he could even hit the earth, Darian vanished again and reappeared on the ground like a ghost. Raising his right hand, he struck down violently.

*BOOM!*

Everyone's vision was drowned in a gruesome, bloody explosion. Nothing was left of that man.

Before all their eyes... a High Elder had been utterly erased in just seconds, like nothing more than a fragile, worthless toy.

Everyone's hearts pounded like drums. Their eyes were glued to the shadowy figure standing on the ground.

He looked like he was wrapped in a black cloak that twisted with malice, while his eyes glowed with pure white light in a disturbing contrast.

He gave a cold smile.

*Whoosh!*

And then he vanished again, leaving everyone in shock.

"NO!"

A demon's shrill scream echoed through the skies.

*BOOM!*

Another Elder exploded violently from a fresh strike of his.

"ATTACK!"

The command rang out, and the Heavenly Elemental Spirits charged with full force, snapping the other allies out of their daze.

In just seconds, everything flipped upside down. The safety and confidence of the two sects had turned into a joke in the face of that absolute power.

*Buzz*

The second eruption alert echoed. But this time, everyone understood there was only one true owner of it.