Damned Healer

Darian went to the royal family's castle just as a formality. He got a pathetic sum of money compared to what he already had, then comforted Zelkov again and asked a few questions.

Princes and princesses could buy mansions if they wanted. Niara preferred to live in a small room inside the royal castle and spend everything she had on training.

Besides an instructor, princes and princesses could have soldiers under their command. Those soldiers were used on missions the planet received from other universes, kind of like a clan on Earth.

Niara, however, never wanted any of that — she wasn't even a Spiritual Guardian. But Darian knew what was in her head: Niara didn't want to put down deep roots on that planet. Her goal was to grow as much as possible and then go back home — to Earth.

In the end, she failed, unintentionally. That made Darian smirk inside. Typical Niara — she never thought things through, and when she did, the result was often the opposite of what she intended.

After getting his info, Darian went to Tetoya's mansion, not far from the royal castle.

At the gate, he showed his ID plate and the guard let him in immediately.

After passing two gates, Darian reached a spacious courtyard — and frowned. A soldier was standing there, spear in hand, looking at him with a nasty, taunting expression.

He was a shortish redhead with black scales covering his body. As soon as he saw Darian, he pointed the spear at him and sneered:

"How come seeing the princess is so easy? I'll give you two options: beat me and I'll let you pass, or pay me... say... ten million. How about that?"

Darian stared at him, feeling the man's hidden murderous intent.

"I think there's a third option: walk over your corpse."

Darian's killing intent flared instantly at the man's arrogance.

"Walk over my corpse? Hahaha! Best joke I've heard! You really think you can do that? Gilth was a total idiot, and you only beat him because of some dirty human blessing. He didn't even activate his blessing — you were just faster." The redhead laughed full of contempt.

"Is that so? Fine. I'm tired of that unloved bitch scheming against me. I came here with good intentions, but she'll only calm down when I show my claws." Darian spat dryly. "I won't be dirty. Leave now — I'll give you two seconds. If you don't, I'll end you here."

Darian's eyes flared, and his curse activated. The man showed a black karma, a bit above average. Not extreme, but he wasn't a good person — and part of that karma looked recent.

Darian was already irritated. He'd agreed to follow all the rules honestly, but both the Matriarch and the Princess were messing with him however they pleased. Fine — he'd play the same game.

"Nonsense!" the man roared, and two streams of energy shot from his spear. His body pulsed and swelled, releasing a powerful Draconic aura. He was like a volcano of power. Now he stopped hiding his intent to kill.

"No!"

Over ten soldiers appeared around them at once. They'd been hiding in the mansion to watch the "fun," but when they saw the redheaded soldier actually trying to kill the new Instructor, they jumped out to 'stop' him.

Of course, they didn't realize who was really in danger. That redheaded soldier was one of the most talented soldiers, a six-ring — a massive gap compared to Darian's previous opponent.

He'd fought for a long time to become Tetoya's Instructor, and when he finally thought he was close, an outside human — an ex-plebeian newly promoted to soldier — took his place.

But it was already too late. The redhead's spear was only inches from Darian.

When everyone thought Darian would be badly hurt, he simply raised his hand and grabbed the spear lightly — blocking the strike with ease.

"Bastard!"

The ground trembled as a wave of Draconic power exploded in all directions from the furious redhead.

But Darian's hand gripped the spear tip — he didn't move an inch. Not even a hair on his head seemed to shift.

"What?!"

All the soldiers around were stunned. The redhead was known for a shockingly explosive physique — how could an all-out attack like that be stopped so easily? By a human? Unthinkable.

The redhead himself was shocked. His face twisted as he tried to pull the spear back — but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move it even a bit. It was like it was glued to Darian's hand.

Darian watched him coldly, like a god looking at an ant.

Being stared at that way made the redhead's face contort with fury. In the next instant, his body flared — flames started bursting out of him.

"Zuhaw went mad?!" the soldiers shouted.

To everyone's amazement, the redheaded soldier was burning his entire Draconic lineage to raise his power.

Smiles of amusement appeared on their faces. They wanted to hear the new Instructor's screams. Afterwards, they could say they'd tried to intervene — that Zuhaw had gone crazy.

However...

No matter how much the redhead increased his power, he still couldn't pull the spear from Darian's hands.

Darian snorted.

Suddenly, the spear moved, but not because the redhead pulled it — Darian pushed it forward.

*PIERCE*

As a result, the spear's base pierced the redhead's chest. The sharp pain snapped him awake, and now there was no fury in his eyes, only fear.

"I admit defeat…" the redhead said.

Darian raised the spear, lifting the redhead's body into the air. His voice was icy, utterly emotionless.

"Oh? You want to fuck with me and expect mercy?"

"Stop!"

The soldiers immediately rushed to stop him, some attacking while others tried to pull the red-haired soldier away.

Darian snorted again. If things were reversed and he were in that soldier's place, these same people would probably just stand by and laugh. He could sense the same black, fresh karma on every one of them — identical to the red-haired soldier's. People like that didn't deserve pity.

"Disappear."

Darian spoke dryly. A black aura burst out from him in every direction. In that instant, everyone felt as if they'd been struck by a hammer.

Blood sprayed from their mouths, and they froze where they stood.

At the same time, the inscription protecting the area was shattered, turning into millions of runes that dispersed into the air.

When that one broke, an even larger barrier appeared over the entire princess's mansion.

However, even that massive inscription trembled. Terrified, the soldiers looked at Darian, who was still holding the red-haired soldier.

The red-haired soldier's body was covered in cracks — he was almost torn apart by that dark aura.

"Darian, what are you doing?!"

At that moment, Tetoya's furious voice echoed.

"Princess, help me! I just wanted to test him, but he's trying to kill me!" shouted the red-haired soldier, using his last bit of strength.

"Put him down. We can talk about this calmly." Tetoya's expression was dark. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but she could already guess.

"Talk calmly? The thing is, just because you talk nicely doesn't mean people will listen." Darian shook his head. That woman had normal karma and didn't seem truly evil, but she was incredibly foolish.

She picked her soldiers based only on power and skill. Every single one of them had dark karma and did shady things in her name. Now that he was tied to this woman for a while, he wouldn't tolerate people like that around.

Not to mention... he wanted to send a clearer message to the Matriarch.

"I don't bother anyone and try to live properly. But that doesn't mean I'll let bastards scheme behind my back. From today on…" He turned to all the soldiers. "Either you run and never show your faces to me again, or I'll take you out one by one."

"Darian!" Tetoya was shocked.

*BANG!*

With a sharp motion of his spear, the red-haired soldier exploded, turning into a bloody mist that spread through the area.

The guards stared at Darian in horror, looking at him as if he were a bloodthirsty demon.

Meanwhile, Darian's expression was calm, not the slightest hesitation on his face. It was as if he hadn't done anything at all — he radiated an unnerving, terrifying serenity.

It was no wonder — he'd been through a lot and learned something important.

There was no way to rise peacefully while leeches were trying to drain your blood. Time meant everything to him. Those people would only hold him back, and when real powerful enemies came, he and everyone around him would die miserably.

'I'll never be forced to retreat because I'm weak again. I'll never let myself be used again.' A cold mantra echoed in his mind.

Tetoya was pale with rage.

Just as she was about to speak, the void trembled, and a dozen Elders appeared.

Darian looked up coldly. They were all figures with eight rings and powerful auras — clearly part of the planet's elite.

At the center, one of them frowned. "Princess, how could you make such a mistake? Let's go!"

Tetoya's face darkened. Full of anger and humiliation, she gritted her teeth. "Darian, just wait! When I'm back, I'll teach you how to behave. And you all too!"

She pointed at her guards, making their faces twist in shame. None of them dared to meet her eyes.

She huffed and left with the Elders, leaving Darian puzzled. What the hell was going on?

When they disappeared, Darian turned to the soldiers.

"!"

They all immediately trembled and pulled out their status plates, throwing them to the ground in panic. Those were their records as the princess's soldiers — without them, they were just regular soldiers with no connection to nobility.

They left everything there. Then, without looking back, they ran off — probably out of the city, not planning to return anytime soon.

Darian let out a dry snort. Then, sensing the surroundings, he saw a woman watching from the side through one of the mansion's windows.

"Why was the princess taken away?" Darian asked.

The woman trembled from head to toe, realizing he was talking to her. She was also a soldier, after all. Seeing that, Darian smiled faintly.

"No need to worry. My words were only for that group," he said, sensing that the karma of the dozen or so people still in the mansion was normal.

The woman straightened up, still trembling slightly, and quickly replied, "Reporting to superior, according to royal family laws, it's forbidden for someone's mansion to cause disturbances that affect nearby residences. When the superior attacked just now, the main inscription of the mansion wasn't fully activated, so the noise was too loud, causing chaos and attracting the patrol. Because of that, the princess must be taken away… She'll probably be punished with three days of detention."

"Three days of detention?" Darian was stunned. It was just some noise — and not even that loud.

"Yes. The royal family holds the supervisor responsible, so the subordinates' mistakes end up punishing their superiors. Maybe others have it easier, but the royal family's laws are especially strict with princes and princesses. Their punishments go way beyond what commoners get," the woman explained quickly.

"No wonder Tetoya was so furious." Darian never thought the princess would be punished — not him. That was a bit satisfying.

He wondered how many times he could get her sent there before she finally dismissed him. Darian had some evil thoughts. After all, he'd already been promoted to Instructor and wouldn't return to being a soldier under the rules. His only problem was his contract with her.

Darian walked straight into the mansion. Then, he saw a dozen soldiers running to greet him, their faces tense.

Tetoya had chosen her previous soldiers terribly, but these… why did they all look so weak? Darian thought.

He'd felt the same about Zelkov — he seemed way too pathetic for a prince. Thinking about it, maybe it had something to do with the type of Bloodline their beast race had.

Darian glanced at them lightly. Now that the princess had been taken away, they didn't have a leader… or rather, they did. They were all soldiers, and Darian was the only Instructor — meaning he held the highest rank.

***

As expected, three days later, Tetoya returned with a terrifying expression, like she was ready to devour someone.

However, when she arrived...

...she saw Darian sitting comfortably in the residence she'd reserved for him, enjoying a luxurious breakfast of spiritual fish. He ate leisurely, served by two female soldiers.

When Tetoya arrived, he didn't even look at her — just focused on his food.

"DARIAN! Don't you think you owe me an explanation?!" Tetoya couldn't hold it in anymore and shouted, her voice full of fury.

Darian turned to her slowly, lazily.

"Oh? Back already, huh?"