Damned Healer

"40 seconds..."

"20 seconds..."

That figure who called himself Radiant King kept counting slowly.

Chained and bound by the white light was a little girl. The rune on the forehead of the wind-born girl was already cracking. Everyone trembled as they watched the despair and pain on her face.

"STOP!!!"

Darian shouted, his voice completely hoarse.

But the figure in the skies only smiled coldly. "So? Thought it through?"

"Fuck it! Put that shit on me! Let her go!"

Darian roared, not caring about anything else. Earlier, everything had happened so fast and he'd hesitated to save that poor boy. He was used to always finding a solution to his problems — all it took was thinking straight... but now, he'd been slapped hard in the face.

That boy had died because of his arrogance.

"Hahaha, it's good talking with smart people." The figure laughed, clearly enjoying it.

Without much thought, he waved like tossing trash away. The girl flew down, crashing violently into the ground.

Since everyone was sealed and couldn't move physically or channel energy, she had no way to defend against the impact. Luckily, that body was just a metamorphosis, but... everyone felt the rune on her forehead — her real body — crack even more.

She'd been freed alive... but the damage was terrible.

The figure then waved lightly, making an intense light appear and condense in the skies. In two seconds, a small white rune emerged. He smiled darkly and waved again, sending it toward Darian.

Everyone swallowed hard watching it. Nobody was stupid — they all knew that once that rune dug into Darian... he'd lose everything.

Awel, Tir, and Eleri trembled, desperately trying to find a way out.

Darian had always taken care of them, and now he was sacrificing himself because he couldn't stand seeing them die... none of the Heavenly Elemental Spirits could accept that. If they'd been given the option to die quickly, without causing Darian trouble, they would've chosen it without hesitation.

The white rune touched Darian's forehead with a snapping sound.

He started trembling and convulsing as the rune slowly sank in...

Until... the three noticed something.

Meanwhile, Darian felt like his soul was shattering. It was a pain he'd already experienced many times before. The rune was slowly rooting itself inside him, with no rush, like it wanted to make sure he'd become the most perfect puppet in the world.

"Don't resist, or I'll start the countdown again." The figure said flatly. He was focused on manipulating the rune inside him and needed Darian to accept it, or there'd be flaws; that's why he did it this way instead of forcing it directly.

Darian clenched his fists. Until the very last second, he tried to think of something... but nothing worked.

This was the end.

He had fought and fought, but in the end... his choices had led him here. If he'd just focused on himself and ignored everything else...

That wouldn't be him.

Of course, he knew he'd acted like a complete idiot. Why did he have to gather and care for so many?

It only slowed him down and forced him to draw attention to protect them. But... he just couldn't be cold and completely indifferent to the suffering of those Heavenly Elemental Spirits.

With a painful snort, the image of Lucy, Lucius, and Niara crossed his mind.

Then... he felt his consciousness growing hazy...

Everything dimmed...

The sound faded...

All his thoughts scattered, like he was drifting into a dream...

*Buzz*

Until... a vibration was felt in his chest.

Suddenly, his ears caught something again — a buzzing sound.

His mind snapped back to reality all at once.

His eyes caught the light again, slowly coming back into focus.

Then...

"!"

Darian saw three small glowing runes stuck to his chest.

All the white light that had bound and sealed him was gone.

'...Tir, Awel, and Eleri?' he thought, already knowing the answer, still a little dazed.

Until his ears caught a roar.

*HOW DARE YOU!!!!*

Darian's eyes turned upward. There, he saw that once radiant and beautiful figure... now covered in cracks, like porcelain breaking apart. Its body twisted and its light was slowly fading.

Darian's senses snapped back at that moment. That wasn't a physical wound, no... it was its soul, which had been separated and placed into the runes, and now was completely wrecked.

"What... the hell..." Confused words slipped from Darian's mouth.

'Brother Darian is back...' Suddenly, Awel's soft voice echoed in his mind.

A relieved sigh came with Tir's voice: 'We managed to save master...'

'Hehe... we were finally really useful. Now\\... sniff... we can die proud...' Eleri's voice sounded almost like a painful lament.

Darian snapped out of his stupor.

"What?!"

He looked down at the three small runes on his chest and his eyes went wide.

Awel and Eleri, who had always been mostly Yin, were now radiating only intense Yang. And Tir, who was always balance, had no trace of Yin either.

Darian raised his eyes to the figure above. That Heavenly Elemental Spirit was obviously born from extreme Yang, probably fire, but Darian couldn't feel any Yin in him, as if he had transcended that duality.

*YOU BASTARDS! I SWEAR YOU'LL REGRET THIS! I'LL MAKE YOU SUFFER AND BEG FOR DEATH WITHOUT EVER FINDING IT!*

The figure screamed, overwhelmed by rage and pain.

That piece of his soul was now like a candle being snuffed out by the wind. Within the cracks on his body, faint yellow, blue, and green lights flickered briefly, only to vanish instantly, as if absorbed.

Darian knew from that book: a mortal splitting their soul was said to be impossible. But the chaos power inside his core, combined with the traits of that race, made it possible. Even so, the rules for those who dared to split their souls were the same.

If the divided soul fragment was destroyed or too damaged... the harm would be permanent to the user. That's why splitting was such a massive risk.

"Hehehe... idiot... we're of the same race, and we've been connected since birth... all of this was only possible thanks to big brother's power... you really thought you could just do whatever you wanted with him?"

Eleri's voice sounded full of mockery... but her words came through in weaker and weaker breaths.

"Just protect your ass. Master's coming after you and he'll make you pay with interest." Tir's voice echoed, hoarse and fading.

Darian felt a crushing despair. He tried to say something, but his still-damaged soul left him too weak, unable to speak much or even move right away. He needed a few minutes to recover... but he knew he wouldn't get them.

He had just come back to life by some unknown miracle.

But from their words... the only thing Darian had left with them, when he first stepped into that place, was all the power of the mark on his forehead, containing the blessing of the Heaven's Will.

His eyes went wide. Those three... had managed to use that to break free. Then they fused into Darian's body. With the bond shared by all of their race, they absorbed the enemy's power to free him. At the same time, they unleashed everything Darian had given them, striking the soul of that being with devastating force.

All of that must've happened in the blink of an eye. Since that figure was focused on manipulating the rune inside Darian, and could never have imagined anyone breaking free and counterattacking... he was caught off guard.

'Brother Darian...' Awel's almost powerless voice whispered in his mind.

'Please, live and go home... everything you told me... made me feel happiness in being alive... all those days we spent together as family were like a dream we would've never had the chance to live...'

"No..." Darian let out a hoarse growl, gathering every ounce of strength he had left.

'The other two can't speak anymore, so this counts for all three of us...

...thank you, thank you so much.'

*Crack*

At the sound of it, Darian felt like a blade pierced straight through his chest.

He turned toward the three runes stuck on his chest...

And then saw their final glow.

Everything went dark. The three runes scattered, vanishing completely from the world.