Damned Healer

Darian didn't react; he just turned to Remira and the two of them walked forward. Everyone there stepped aside without hesitation; after all, they'd already gotten what they wanted.

In a duel that important, killing and dying was normal. That intruder wouldn't live more than seven days.

...

Remira led the way to where her faction lived. When she noticed no one was around, she muttered a little nervously:

"You know... I told you I had to relearn everything from scratch... so, my vassals are kinda... weak and pathetic. I couldn't really teach them much." Her words came out awkward and embarrassed. "You met Hirel before. She's the only one truly reliable and somewhat capable... I don't even know why she chose to stay in my faction."

"No problem. I asked for seven days because I figured something like this." Darian answered casually. He wasn't stupid: that spoiled, proud woman obviously had no talent for leading or teaching anyone.

"I don't plan to use Hirel and her best soldiers, 'cause in the near future, I'll need a lot more reliable people. Better start training them properly now."

She nodded and stared at him seriously for a few seconds.

Darian found that odd.

Seeing his confusion, she looked away: "You kinda looked like the Great Uncle just now..."

"Great Uncle? You mean Meru's father?" Darian asked, confused.

"What? You know Auntie?" she said, startled.

"She's my master... I went through intensive training with her for several months. Maybe some of what I learned from her actually came from her father." He answered with a sigh.

Remira nodded, looking excited. She knew Meru very well, and knowing she was his master made her certain Darian was someone trustworthy.

A little later, they arrived at a region in the southwest of the sect's territory. It wasn't a bad residence, since a General had the right to an independent territory.

Darian asked Remira a few questions, and she answered what she could, though she was confused. Soon, Darian thought things over and came up with a training method.

***

After spending a day preparing, the next morning, a group of dozens of faction members had been summoned and were waiting for Darian.

Preparations took a while, because the situation was awful.

Remira's faction was made up only of ridiculously weak people. They had all crossed the desert and the Wild World, but they were children of sect members and had been given training and techniques.

When they entered the system, using sect techniques and everything they'd received from their parents, it didn't even take four hundred years for them to return to the last phase.

In the Wild World, all of them had joined the enemy's eight allied sects without hesitation. That was the smartest choice, trying to rise quietly. As long as they didn't cause trouble and followed orders, nobody needed to know where they came from.

But when they returned to the Divine Seven-Star Sect, they felt like they had already achieved their life goals. They had no confidence they could become great. Besides, most believed it would still take many generations before the sect was ever defeated.

So they decided to live relaxed. In other words, they were cowards who accepted their own lack of talent. No faction wanted them... and since the new faction needed people, Remira had been forced to take them in.

Hirel was one of the few actually capable ones, along with a handful of others who were at least somewhat acceptable and wanted to improve. Remira gathered them all into a single army and sent them to that city. That was the Generals' job: they had to protect at least one city.

"Darian, how confident are you?" Remira asked beside him as they walked to a more distant area, outside the sect's defensive barrier.

"Hmm, not very," he answered bluntly.

She turned to him, tense. Darian sighed with a faint mocking air.

"I already know what kind of people they are, and nothing's really impossible. They... won't dare make me fail. If they try, none of them should even think about leaving alive." Darian's voice was flat.

Remira swallowed hard. Now she saw a shadow of Meru in him. She was exactly like that: demanding and terrifyingly strict. When Remira was young, her father tried to get Meru to train and discipline her, but she ran day and night in total desperation until Meru took pity and gave up.

Soon after, they arrived at the place.

A group of people was loudly talking about something when Darian approached in silence, making everyone focus on him.

"You're that Darian?" Before he could even say anything, one of the disciples looked at him sideways with scorn.

Remira snorted. Nobody tried to scold him, even with her standing right there. Aside from Hirel and a few soldiers, all the others were bastards who didn't respect her or take her seriously.

*Crack*

All of a sudden, Darian reached out and grabbed the neck of the guy who spoke.

Without hesitation, he twisted it. The disciple's body collapsed instantly, twitching before finally going still.

"He's dead?!" All the disciples were horrified.

Darian pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his hands with a look of disgust, like twisting that man's neck had dirtied his skin.

They all stayed deadly silent while he cleaned his hands. Only when they were completely clean did Darian glance at them like nothing had happened.

"Sorry, my temper's not great. When you talk to me, think carefully about what you're gonna say." Suddenly, his expression shifted. "Ah, wait, what was that guy saying just now? I kinda rushed it and didn't even listen. Well, whatever."

Everyone's eyes went wide, their minds racing on pure instinct.

He killed people? If the sect found out… wait! He'd already killed before and gotten away with it!

They'd all heard the rumors, but hadn't believed them. Now, seeing him do it again without a hint of fear, they turned pale.

"H-how can you just kill someone like that?" a small woman asked in fear.

*Pierce*

Out of nowhere, a spear went straight through her chest.

She stared at Darian, eyes wide with terror.

But he just pulled the spear out coldly, and she dropped to the ground.

*Bang*

"What useless trash," Remira spat, after kicking the woman's body aside.

Silence.

The General was standing with this bloodthirsty demon—there was no one they could call for help. Despair spread among them.

Looking at the terrified disciples in front of him, Darian smiled: "Don't be nervous. Actually, I'm very friendly..."

Darian's smile looked warm and radiant. But after killing two people in a row, showing that kind of smile only made everyone's hair stand on end.

"However, the pre-condition is that you listen to me. Otherwise... I don't mind killing every single one of you here."

He finished calmly, then slowly planted the spear into the ground. The sound shook everyone's hearts.

He was a demon! A demon that killed without blinking! The disciples trembled in fear. All their earlier arrogance vanished without a trace.

Then, a woman murmured, shaking: "Sir... missionary... Great Missionary Darian... we're all really talented. Don't worry... trust us..."

"Cowards like you? Even if I believed it, do you even believe your own words?" Darian shook his head with disdain.

"Give us a chance, don't kill us! We can definitely succeed!" another disciple shouted.

Everyone feared death. They were sure they could still live for a few hundred years inside the sect and didn't want to die there.

"Good. If you want a chance, I don't see why not. All of you, come and swallow one of these pills." Darian said, waving his hand and showing a bunch of pills. "They contain a specific poison only I can cure in time, before anyone figures out what it is to save you. Of course, you can choose not to take it, and then I'll just kill you faster."

Silence reigned for a few seconds. In their minds, they needed to buy time to ask for help. In the end, they all chose to swallow the pill.

"Alright, wait at the end of the valley. I'll clean up the corpses here," Darian said flatly.

They all moved quickly.

Once no one else was around, the corpses on the ground began to stir.

"That hurt like hell! I thought I was really gonna die!" The first disciple, the one whose neck had been twisted, sat up.

The woman who had been speared also stood up, pale. The spear had really pierced her, but avoided vital organs. Even so, it wasn't a light wound. Luckily, Remira had given her an extreme regeneration pill beforehand; when she saw Darian approaching, she secretly swallowed it.

These two were rare cases, recently accepted into Hirel's army. The others didn't know this and thought they were just like them.

"Good work," Remira thanked them, then sent them off. They would head to the city and stay away from the sect for a while.