Damned Healer

Awel's last words were still echoing in Darian's mind... her voice fading slowly, carried away by the soft breeze—gentle, yet cold and cruel as it brushed over him...

Darian's mind fell into chaos. Tears started overflowing; a wave of pain and grief swallowed his entire being. The memories of almost five years spent with the three of them stabbed at his soul like daggers.

"How did it come to this!? Why is this happening! I... I should've noticed something was wrong!"

Darian let out the most anguished scream of his life and slowly dropped to his knees.

It all happened way too fast.

In just seconds, Darian had accepted being taken over; then suddenly, the three acted and sacrificed themselves to save him.

The Radiant King twisted in the skies, overwhelmed by immense pain, but he was forcing what little power he had left under control. The moment Darian fell to his knees, the King steadied himself.

"YOU LITTLE BASTARD! I HOPE YOU HURRY UP TO THE NEXT STAGE!"

With a roar, his body pulsed and scattered, turning into tiny runes. They quickly gathered together and trembled.

*Wooosh!*

Then the runes shot off like lightning, before anyone could even process what was happening.

A big chunk of his soul had been badly damaged, and he couldn't afford to take any more hits. So he ignored everything and used his power to retreat with what little he had left.

Right then, all of his allies felt their bodies freed. As for the eight sects, when they saw their King suddenly run away, an ominous premonition sank deep in their hearts.

All eyes turned to Darian.

"..."

He was still there, kneeling like a frozen statue, not moving an inch.

*Bang!*

Out of nowhere, he struck himself—slammed his fist straight into his own chest. Then he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood, holding himself up on the ground with both hands for a moment.

Slowly, he lifted his head, blood still dripping from the corners of his mouth. His crimson eyes pulsed, burning with an unmatched fury.

At the same time, his seven stars flared at full power. His whole body was consumed by darkness.

And in his eyes, a white glow appeared, blazing like a lighthouse.

"Radiant... King..."

He spat those two words like a curse.

At that moment, the white light in his eyes flickered and began to shift.

The last trace of white power still manifesting in him... suddenly went out. Everything sank into darkness and shadow.

At the same time, a cold, bloodthirsty aura burst out around him. Yet there was still a shred of clarity in him—he wasn't fully insane... not completely.

"Everyone... get ready...!"

The leader of one of the eight sects tried to rally the others, but his voice was swallowed as a chill ran down his spine.

He turned—and right in front of him, a figure emerged like a ghost... staring at it was like facing the image of a merciless god of death. In that instant, the souls of everyone there nearly fled in terror.

The leader tried to draw his sword... but suddenly, that shadowy figure struck.

*BANG!*

Everyone was gripped by unprecedented fear as a blast of blood erupted. With a single punch, that leader was utterly torn apart.

Everyone froze in shock—that was the sect leader! How could he die like that, as if he were nothing but an insect?!

Darian slowly turned toward the members of the eight sects...

A dagger appeared in his hand.

In his eyes, there was no hatred, no malice, no anything—just emptiness. And yet, everyone could feel death itself looming, solid and inescapable, paralyzing them with fear.

Suddenly, he moved again.

*BOOM!*

The twenty thousand allies behind him watched a scene they would never forget.

Darian moved like lightning, his dagger slicing through in a macabre dance. Before those people could even react, before they could run… they didn't even catch a glimpse of the attack… and then Darian tore them apart like they were made of paper.

The dagger stabbed and slashed, but after the strike, they exploded. Almost instantly reduced to pulp as blood and limbs rained down all around. The stench of rotten blood filled the air in seconds.

The allies were deeply shaken. As for the enemies, it felt like their souls had left their bodies before death even arrived.

In less than a minute, Darian had already killed dozens of them.

They ran in desperation… but like a ghost, he appeared out of nowhere, wordless and merciless. Never in their lives had they witnessed something so horrifying.

Another sect leader's pupils dilated as he raised his weapon in defense, faster than he had ever moved before…

*Bang!*

He instantly turned into a mist of blood and flesh.

To Darian, he was nothing but a slightly bigger ant. One move was all it took.

That was the last of the eight sect leaders to vanish. Darian had focused on them first, carving a path and clearing everyone around them.

It had slowed down the slaughter a bit. But now, with the main heads gone, he set his sights on wiping out the rest of the ants even faster.

"NOOO AAAAAH!"

The screams echoed nonstop, but that figure, now drenched in blood, didn't hesitate or show a single sign of feeling anything at all.

Pushing his stellar body to the max, combined with the speed of Tempest Blink, his dagger danced in his hand. Darian looked like a ravenous, insatiable demon.

Every move of his was followed by a rain of blood. Even if all the enemies tried running for their lives, they couldn't get far… after all, they were stuck in the central zone, relatively calm. If they left it, they'd fall into the chaotic zone again and die on their own anyway. They had no chance of living.

In less than five minutes, two-thirds of them had already been turned into pools of blood and ground-up flesh.

Every time he cut them down, Darian deliberately made them explode. That way, not even a single recognizable piece remained. Those who had once been seen as the most powerful figures of the Wild World were now nothing but grotesque, tiny fragments.

Four more minutes later, it was all over.

Silence.

Less than ten minutes earlier, those thousand had been proud of themselves, boasting about a job well done. They had followed the Radiant King's orders perfectly, believing that cursed guy would be easily subdued, along with all the others.

But in the blink of an eye, they fell straight from the skies into hell itself. Nothing but pitiful insects, crushed into pieces without the slightest effort.

Darian didn't say a single word from start to finish of the massacre. His body was drenched head to toe in blood as he stood there breathing heavily, surrounded by a sea of death.

His mind was clear, calm… and completely empty.

He hadn't been taken over by the Demon Heart. But without a doubt, he was no longer the same Darian as before.

Stowing his dagger away, he waved his hand and activated his ring.

In that very instant, the 24 scattered diagrams pulsed and floated back toward him.

In a blink, everything was collected.

Without saying a word, Darian turned and shot off into the distance.

His allies remained frozen in place, dead silent, unable to even think straight.