Damned Healer

At the high council of the Divine Seven-Star Sect, the Sect Leader, Murral, and his five Deans were getting the news almost in real time.

On the flying ships, there were sect recording crystals transmitting the information. That was the method used to make sure the sect always knew what was happening in battle, just in case everyone got wiped out and the enemy left nothing behind.

"The defensive inscription was broken in seconds by him?! How is that even possible?! That barrier is the second most powerful in this world, only weaker than our own Divine Seven-Star Sect's!" one of the Deans read the report, stunned.

Another Dean spoke, terrified: "Heavens, he... he's planning to loot all the treasures from that clan? If he comes back with everything... our old weapons and equipment are already nearly gone... this could completely change the war."

"The closest enemy army is fifty minutes away, even if they push their flying ships at full power. They need to hurry and get back..." one of the female Deans said tensely.

"Don't worry. Darian studied here in the sect, analyzed the whole map and the distances between territories. He even asked about maximum travel speed and tons of other details... I'm sure he knows all of this already..." another Dean commented, though she also wore a shocked expression.

Everyone nodded, feeling a wave of admiration for the vice-leader.

"But how did he know the whole main force of that clan would strike the city at the same time? And more importantly... how did he wipe out everyone in that city? What the hell was that power from the disciples?"

All eyes turned to Murral, who only shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Don't look at me. I left everything to the vice-leader. He doesn't need to discuss anything with me, so I don't know a thing. All I know is this: if you're going to use someone, don't doubt them; and if you're going to doubt someone, then don't use them. Since I chose to trust him, I trust him fully."

He wasn't allowed to talk about the real identity of Remira and Darian. But he wasn't exactly lying either. He truly didn't know much, and besides... Remira had always told them who she was, and she had always said who Darian was.

If they didn't believe her, that wasn't his fault.

Hearing that, they were even more shaken. That young man's methods were truly astonishing.

***

Back at the clan.

While the soldiers were sweeping up everything, Darian ran across the clan's territory using electricity runes for speed. He absorbed the Primordial Cores of all the dead.

Until finally, the green screen popped up.

[Congrats, your Primordial Core has evolved!]

[Core Category: Magic]

Darian froze at once, seized by sharp, ripping pain.

It felt like his whole soul was shattering. But it came from the Primordial Core.

It split apart completely, then pulsed and began to rebuild. Within seconds, Darian felt it stabilize.

He took a deep breath, letting the power of chaos surge inside him... and a terrifying force erupted, leaving him shaken. The amount generated seemed the same, but it was at least five times denser than before.

"Heavens... so that's why that bastard is so untouchable. It's not about realms or levels. Even before reaching the Radiant King realm, he was already invincible. Right now, he's gotta be above the Magic category, which means he's got unmatched chaos power density compared to everyone else." Darian muttered dryly.

"Because of him, without being able to complete special missions and get those special skills... everyone's doomed to never reach their max possible power. What a son of a bitch."

After evolving for the first time, he hurried back underground.

Fifteen minutes had passed, making it thirty-five since the attack on the clan began.

Darian had planned everything: after finding out the city attackers came from this clan, he calculated the timing and even added an extra fifteen minutes to make sure nothing went wrong.

The two hundred soldiers tore into the treasure hoard, sweeping up absolutely everything. It was like they were licking every inch clean.

He saw Faden and the others he had trained, ripping out windows, doorframes, and flooring from the walls. Everything was made of metal and therefore valuable — the looters left nothing behind, storing it all in spatial crystals.

Darian was speechless: "You guys are real pros. I didn't teach you this stuff."

Faden turned with an awkward grin: "We lived a long time as beggars... we had to squeeze every scrap we could from the sect."

The soldiers all grinned, satisfied. Now they were rich. Really, really rich. So many resources that even if they split them evenly among every sect member, each person would at least be half-rich.

Darian gave a quick nod, then spun around. "We're leaving."

Everyone rushed and jumped back onto the flying ships.

Looking back at the clan, everything was in ruins. Almost 80% of the people there were dead; there hadn't been many to begin with, and just a few minutes were enough for a massacre. The rest had either fled early or were among the few allowed to leave for lack of time.

Those few were low-level or elderly. Remira had ordered that all the young and anyone above level 5 should be the first targets. That way, the ones who escaped posed no short- or mid-term threat. After looting everything and killing the vast majority, that clan would simply vanish from this world.

Without delay, the flying ship blasted back toward the sect at top speed.

"Boss really is a divine strategist. You set up everything." Faden said, while the others stared at Darian in awe, thinking the same. They had pulled off everything perfectly in such a short time and even carried away the treasures.

"Don't be idiots. All of this was planned by the Sect Leader. Nobody's perfect, and that's why I count on everyone's help to get things done. But why are you so relaxed? Keep your auras sharp, we don't know what might happen before we get back to the sect." Darian said flatly.

Remira smiled faintly. It was an obvious lie, but if Darian didn't say it, these people would start to see him as something even more godlike than they already did.

She nodded in understanding. It was better for him to stay on the same level as everyone else, or no one would ever dare act normal or speak their minds in front of him.

It wasn't personal. The truth was, Darian wasn't flawless, and he really did want everyone to have a voice and help him. If they saw him as omnipotent and invincible, they'd just slack off and leave all the burden on his shoulders.

When they passed through the city from the earlier battle, every valuable thing from the corpses and the city itself was already gone. The survivors hadn't wasted time and had already returned to the safety of the sect.

...

Luckily, nothing happened on the way, and they managed to get back.

When they arrived, Darian ordered everyone to head to the sect's treasury and organize the loot.

When Murral and the Deans saw the mountains of treasures, they were left speechless.

Darian then spoke calmly, "There are other neutral clans specialized in forging, right? Send a message to the best ones. They have to come to the sect and forge here. We need the best gear to fight."

"We should strengthen the sect's defenses with these resources. It's possible to build a second barrier around all the central lands using only half of this. Adding it to the defensive inscription, we'd be guaranteed to survive easily for ten generations." one of the female Deans said quickly.

"And why would I only want to survive? My focus is to win this war. Everything will be used to arm our people. As for this land where the sect is, it's not important." Darian shot back. "Playing defensive makes us predictable. To win a battle perfectly, we need to strike unexpectedly and start putting pressure at the right spot, without fully alarming the enemy."

The Dean tried to argue, but Murral stared her down coldly, forcing her to stay quiet.

"We'll summon the best forgers available. We'll use two-thirds of the materials for that, and one-third to pay them properly. That way, they'll give us the best work of their lives. Your words make sense — by having them forge inside the sect, we remove any risk of theft." Murral said, and Darian nodded in agreement.

After that, every soldier received a massive share of the resources. The treasury had plenty of things that couldn't be used for forging, and with that, each of them had hope of leveling up through the new technique.

Afterward, everyone returned and went into isolation.

But in just a single day, the sect was swarmed by tens of thousands of unwanted visitors.