Damned Healer
Chapter 157: The Time Has Come

Chapter 157: The Time Has Come

Darian’s eyes went wide. Rhea had told him, back when he returned to Earth, that the rings only formed when a Spiritual Guardian returned to their true body. The ring was created using ’Merit Power’, something everyone gained after contributing to the training universe— usually after killing a lot of Risen.

He clearly felt something that wasn’t there before inside his soul moving toward the single ring on his forehead. And within a second...

A soft orange light wrapped around his soul.

Right after coming back to Earth for the first time, Darian had managed to push his first ring just one step away from evolving. His current contribution probably came from killing those four Kings and helping the Mannaz.

It wasn’t much... but it was enough to fill in the gap.

A second ring, bigger than the first, formed around it. Both were connected, and the red power of the first ring grew denser, shifting into a full orange color.

It all happened super fast. Darian resurrected... and three seconds later, he broke through.

He took a deep breath, then looked down at Niara. She was still wide-eyed... he’d totally forgotten to tell her about this whole resurrection thing of his.

In this universe, Darian could be as reckless and headstrong as he wanted. This was his training ground, a place made for him to get stronger... and honestly, if he didn’t act like that, there’d be no way to save this place.

This was one of Heaven’s Will’s little bonuses for him— a way to give him a real shot at rising up. He could always go all in, 100%, without fearing self-destruction if it came down to it. This was the first big mountain he had to climb... he had to save this universe.

But back on Earth... it’d be different. The challenge there— whatever it was— would be way bigger... and he wouldn’t have any second chances there. Resurrection only happened here, such a thing would be impossible in his real body, like when he go on missions with his clan members.

’My self-esteem’s kinda taking a hit with how you keep doubting me,’ he muttered, looking at her.

She swallowed hard. ’I-I... I’ll never doubt you again.’

He saw her eyes sparkle... and immediately got a bad feeling because of it, but chose to ignore it.

Darian turned, and his gaze locked with the twins, who finally snapped out of their daze.

Lucy grinned, and her light flared like a star. "Bro, that was awesome!"

"We need to finish this fast," Lucius said, fired up, and his light surged as well.

They turned toward the Risen surrounding them. Their Summoners moved fast. Ariu fired off countless arrows, each one slicing through the air like a beam of light, dropping one Risen after another. Rion dashed in, his spear spinning, glowing, and hitting multiple targets at once.

The remaining Risen were like cockroaches compared to them now. The three Elders and Ruoku took a deep breath and focused on ending things quickly, before something else happened.

The Academy Leader, on the other hand, was in complete shock. ’What the hell is going on? How is this even possible?’

He stared at the human soul floating toward the Dragoness. She stared right back into his eyes, locking on him.

And then...

The Leader’s eyes changed, a sharp pain exploded in his chest. He roared and grabbed his chest. Then... his eyes turned a deep, bloody red.

"You think you’ve won? Hahaha!" a guttural voice spilled from the Mannaz’s lips.

Inside his body, the Risen Lord’s mark shattered against his will. His sponsor—who’d been watching everything—lost patience and took control.

Darian turned toward him... and then he saw it: black lines and cracks spreading all across that Mannaz’s body.

’That bastard’s sacrificing him,’ Darian thought seriously. ’But he’s way too weak. He can only pull off one big destructive move after a lot of effort. His goal... is to blow up the whole academy.’

Darian already knew the Risen Lord could do this because of what happened back in the Abyssal Nest. The difference now was, the Risen Lord didn’t have the strength to fully take over that body—he could only send a bit of power to make everything explode. That’s why Darian never tried to attack the Leader directly, not even once.

His whole plan was to break every single trick the Leader had, force him to burn through every bit of the academy’s strength. In the end, when the guy realized he couldn’t win, he’d already be out of energy. After all... no one would willingly sacrifice themselves unless they were 100% sure they’d lose anyway.

Darian had been hoping the Risen Lord would stay arrogant and not care about this fight. But... not everyone’s an idiot, and this enemy had been paying close attention. So... he acted before losing all his chances.

The academy still had some power left. If he blew up the academy, he could still invade the galaxy and gain a lot from it.

Niara clenched her fists. "Let’s finish him!"

*BUZZZ!*

The whole academy buzzed, and the ground shook.

Every single small formation, power-storing treasure, defense system, and teleport array... anything with energy left inside the academy... all moved under their Leader’s control, as his final, desperate move.

But first, a multicolored sphere formed around him. The leader, controlled by the Rison Lord, couldn’t let that body be killed during that moment, so he created a protective shield while he worked on creating the explosion that would take down the academy.

"This... your power could..." Niara commented, expecting Darian’s Black Power capable of breaking that shield.

’No.’ Darian answered Niara flatly. ’He just moved the elements and smashed them together into a rough shield. It’s not connected to any living thing. My black power can’t destroy it.’

Her eyes widened, and she turned to that human soul floating next to her, which had a humanoid form. She stared into his eyes. In that form, Darian was about five centimeters taller than her, but he still looked pretty skinny.

Darian took a deep breath, noticing that gaze... her eyes obviously filled with absolute faith in him. ’... it’s still natural energy,’ he thought as he looked at the Leader and the shield around him. ’However, with just a soul, it’s impossible for me or Niara to do anything... so I need to create my new body.’

With every new ring, the normal one, he’d get the chance to create a stronger physical form. The time had finally come. Darian had been looking forward to this moment ever since he made that mediocre slug body. His was obviously happy inside. Only he knew how much he hated that slug body.

He locked onto the Leader and felt a connection forming with a distant place. ’He built that protective barrier because he needs time... it’s probably gonna take a few minutes before it blows.’

He had to act fast. By the time he was done, there’d be barely any time left before detonation... so this new body had to be way stronger than the slug to buy enough time.

As soon as he finished thinking that, he focused. The rings on his fists pulsed in sync with the two on his forehead.

A wave of intense energy burst out. Immediately, the battlefield was covered in multicolored runes.

Darian was surprised. Back when he evolved the black and white rings, he didn’t feel a big improvement in his control over the elements. But now... it was like night and day.

Evolving a Spiritual Guardian’s rings boosted the power of their curse massively. His master hadn’t mentioned this... maybe because even she didn’t fully understand how his rings interacted with each other. But she did say his power would grow in other ways, and what she created for him was just a starting point.

’Excellent. I built that pathetic body using natural elements, but I had zero control. Now...’

He clenched his fists, and from inside his inventory, the three life energies came out from the Stellar Ore.

"It was kinda cute," Niara murmured, looking at him with bright eyes, "It looked weak... but you were totally different mentally when you showed up. Now... you’re way cooler."

Darian sighed. Honestly... the slug body had been an accident, but yeah... it did kinda reflect where he was at the time. He’d just completely changed the direction of his life. He was full of drive... but still a hesitant, flawed kid in a lot of ways.

Not that he was perfect now... but he was way more mature and focused. So... a new body that showed that had to be born.

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