Damned Healer

When Darian opened his eyes, he saw a Dragoness wrapped in a reddish aura staring at him seriously. Her eyes trembled slightly, fixed on him.

"Why... can't I feel... anything from your soul?" she muttered tensely.

Darian snorted. He had already expected that sooner or later, this would happen. Normally, there was no point in trying to sense the soul of someone with four rings, so she hadn't tried before. But now, after everything, she didn't hesitate.

"That's not very polite of you, is it? Everyone's got a few secrets." Darian said calmly, looking straight into her eyes. "I never lied. I came here with good intentions, and I'm trying to do everything right for Niara. If she sees you and this planet as something important, then I'd never harm any of you. No need to worry or overthink it."

Painita was clearly uncomfortable. She definitely knew a few things. But even without him saying anything else, she didn't get angry.

"Fine. Then show me your good intentions through your actions. Before, I... sorry for breaking the rules."

Darian nodded at that. Then he stood up quietly and walked toward the exit in silence.

Inside, though, he was pretty excited. This time, he had gained a lot.

As he stepped out of the room, he clenched his fists. When he opened them... in one hand, a faint white light appeared; in the other, a dark one.

Darian smiled. Thanks to the deal he'd made with himself, the conflict between his black and white powers had vanished. It was like his two sides had finally reached an understanding. Now, he could use both at the same time.

Leaving the royal castle, he stretched lazily under the hot sun. He felt full of strength. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd felt this good.

"Mr. Darian!"

He turned and saw Zelkov and Tetoya approaching. The boy had a smile of relief and genuine happiness on his face.

"You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I'm feeling great. Come on, I'll buy you a spiritual fish!" Darian said lazily.

However, Zelkov flinched the moment he heard the word "fish." He'd been traumatized by it since the last incident.

Tetoya looked Darian up and down. Seeing that he was in an incredible condition — even better than before he'd entered that dreadful place — she couldn't understand it. Did the higher-ups give him some kind of special treatment?

"Let's head back to the mansion first," she said.

Darian smiled. "You made me guard the medicinal field's gate, then sent me to the fishing zone. What's next? You gonna make me feed some beasts?"

"Keep dreaming! If you keep this up, I'll lose all my money!" Tetoya shouted furiously.

Only after yelling did she realize that wasn't the right place for it. So she quickly ran off with Darian and Zelkov.

As they walked away, Darian suddenly asked, "I heard you guys have special instruments here in the city to test someone's physical power. I wanna try it."

At that, Tetoya's face lit up. "Perfect, that's a good idea. Let's go." She quickly changed direction, leading them to a more isolated part of the capital.

It was a special area for those who wanted to test themselves. Just to enter, you had to pay a hefty fee. There were all sorts of tests — not for training, but for assessing every possible parameter of an individual, showing their weaknesses and strengths. People used that to figure out where to focus their efforts.

As soon as they paid and entered...

"Oh, isn't that the stupid human?" a mocking, arrogant voice echoed.

Following the voice, they saw a group of tall humanoid beasts, muscular and wearing extravagant outfits, entering the place at the same time.

Tetoya leaned a bit toward Darian and whispered near his ear:

"They're from the Second Prince's faction. They're picking a fight on purpose, but it wouldn't be wise for me to deal with them here. Still, you don't need to hold back. As long as you're strong enough, do whatever you want with them. You're my subordinate, and fights between subordinates are allowed in this zone."

More than ten figures walked toward them with confident steps.

The leader, nearly three meters tall, had his whole body covered in dense scales like armor. He had five rings, and his draconic Bloodline was intense — not weaker than that of the royal family.

When they stopped in front of Darian, one of the soldiers next to the leader gave a provocative look. With a mocking smile, he said:

"Someone like you wants to marry the First Princess? And you're still trying to seduce another one? Humans are completely shameless."

Tetoya and the others narrowed their eyes. The fact that she had leaned close to Darian and whispered to him had clearly given them the wrong impression.

Darian looked at the man and his group. Shaking his head, he said indifferently:

"I'm in a good mood today, and I don't want anyone ruining it. I don't care if you curse me... but your words stained Niara's honor. So... kneel and apologize sincerely. I won't say it twice."

One of them pointed at Darian and shouted, "Brat, you better watch your mouth...!"

Before he could even finish the sentence, Darian's eyes shone subtly with seven colors.

He grabbed the man's wrist like lightning and pulled with brutal force.

"AAAH!"

The result was a violent tear — the entire arm ripped apart. Blood splattered everywhere as the man screamed in agony.

It all happened too fast for anyone to react. Now, that torn-off arm was in Darian's hand.

"Courting death!"

Their leader threw a furious punch.

He used only his physical strength and the raw power of his rings — yet it was strong enough to crack space itself.

But...

To everyone's shock, the massive fist was caught by Darian's hand. It was like the claw of a Primordial Beast had seized him, causing unbearable pain. Without hesitation, the man tried to kick Darian in the armpit to break free.

However, he barely lifted his foot before Darian raised him completely off the ground.

Before everyone's stunned eyes, the massive man was mercilessly slammed down.

*BOOM!*

As he crashed violently, the runes carved into the tiles lit up, forming a powerful defensive inscription that prevented the ground from being damaged. On the other hand, the huge man spat out blood, and the sound of his scales cracking echoed through the area.

"I'm not the type to repeat myself," Darian said calmly.

Then, he lifted the man again and used him like a sandbag, smashing him into the ground over and over.

*BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!*

Watching that scene, Tetoya and Zelkov were completely dumbfounded. Darian's attack had been so sudden that they hadn't even had time to react. Besides that, they couldn't tell what technique or blessing he had used — it was totally different from any fighting style they knew.

How could a small human pull that off? The burly man was one of the prince's strongest soldiers. Even Tetoya would need at least ten moves to bring him down.

But in front of Darian, the guy hadn't even lasted half a move before being caught.

The first three times he was slammed down, he still had the strength to try resisting. But by the fourth, he was already unconscious.

By the fifth, his scales had shattered, and his bones started breaking. The pain snapped him back to consciousness — only for him to be thrown again and black out once more.

In the end, Darian smashed him into the ground twenty times. When he finally stopped, he felt the weight in his hand lighten. Looking up, he realized all that was left in his grip was a thick arm. The man's body had been hurled away with such force that it slammed brutally against a nearby wall.

The impact left him limp, like a shapeless, lifeless heap. He didn't move at all — no one knew if he was still alive.

Now, Darian stood there holding two severed arms, his aura radiating a chilling killing intent. Just looking at him made everyone around tremble nonstop.

Then... he turned his gaze toward the other soldiers.

Instantly, they all dropped to their knees. The one who had spoken earlier shouted frantically, "I was wrong! Mr. Darian would never look at another woman when he's got a goddess like the First Princess by his side!"

"Good. I'm glad you understand. You can go now."

His dark aura vanished as fast as it had appeared. Just a moment ago, he looked ready to slaughter them all — and the next, he was acting like nothing had happened. The sudden shifts left Tetoya and Zelkov completely bewildered.

The group backed away in panic, carrying their unconscious leader with them. They only stopped once they were far enough to feel safe.

"Let's go," Darian said, turning to the two behind him, who just nodded silently.

Tetoya led the way forward. Along the path, they crossed several members of the royal family and soldiers loyal to the princes and princesses. Everyone looked at Darian — clearly, word about him had already spread.

However, most of those looks were cold, disdainful, or even openly hostile. Hardly anyone showed any friendliness.

That was because the royal family was divided into factions, each supporting a different prince or princess.

These rivalries were a kind of trial for the heirs — a way to test their ability to lead and unite people. In the future, the next Emperor or Empress would emerge from among them. Morion himself had gone through the same process when he was a prince.

Those who didn't become rulers ended up as powerful Elders, still influential but subordinate to the planet's leader.

In this generation, even though Niara was the First Princess, she'd never had any support outside of the Matriarch. On top of that, she always made it clear she didn't want anything except to grow stronger on her own. Because of that, no one saw her as a competitor for the throne — and so, she wasn't treated badly.

Zelkov, on the other hand, was literally the lowest-ranked one, with only a handful of weak soldiers under his command.

Tetoya was a princess with strong combat power but lacked charisma and political skill. Despite her battle abilities, she had no other real strengths.

So even though plenty of soldiers and commoners followed her, she didn't have the support of any royal family member. In that sense, she was actually in a worse position than Zelkov, who at least had two royals backing him — both childhood friends. Tetoya, on the other hand, was completely alone.

The three of them arrived at a massive square filled with all sorts of strange equipment.

There was an area specifically for testing physical strength, with instruments covered in mysterious runes that emitted an overwhelming feeling of weight.

"This is the special testing field. It measures how many 'Fiendgod Strength Points' someone has. It's a scale that came from a higher-level universe and is used in many others too," Tetoya explained.

When they got there, hundreds of people were already testing themselves — all of them powerful and physically imposing.

They saw one guy trying to lift a short rod, veins bulging on his forehead from the effort. Whatever that thing was, it was insanely heavy.

"Mr. Darian, those rods each weigh one Fiendgod Strength Point. It's the lightest weight here. For him to hold it up for even a few seconds is impressive. At my best, I can only manage three seconds," said Zelkov.

Darian turned to Tetoya. "What's your max?"

She puffed out her chest and answered coolly, "The royal family doesn't focus much on the physical body, so I've only reached ten points. I'm curious to see how many you can lift."

Her tone was neutral, but her pride was obvious. Across the whole planet, there were probably only a handful of women — or even men her age — with strength equivalent to ten Fiendgod Points.

"You've never tested before, so start with a one-point weight. It's insanely heavy, and you could hurt yourself if you're not careful," Zelkov advised kindly, worried that Darian might get overconfident and try something too high.

Darian just nodded in response. That kid really wasn't bad — having such a pure heart in such a harsh and cold environment was rare.

Then, he looked at the rod with a spark of anticipation in his eyes. He could finally test his strength. Slowly, he reached out his hand.

When his fingers wrapped around the handle, Tetoya and Zelkov held their breath.

Darian didn't channel any energy at all — it looked like he was just picking up a stick from the ground.

The people around paused to watch, many with mocking expressions. They wanted to see him embarrass himself.

That kind of thing was common there: newbies who thought they were too strong always ended up humiliated — some even coughed up blood or got hurt.

But then, the rod trembled slightly, and Darian's expression changed.

"Hahaha!" Seeing that, everyone burst out laughing.

"He has no idea how high the sky is!"

"There's so much ignorance these days."

"Hehe, only fools are fearless..."

But right after all that laughter...

...everything stopped.

The mocking faces froze in confusion — and then turned into pure shock.

"What the hell...?!" slipped out of Tetoya's mouth.