Damned Healer
Chapter 159: Ignore And Accept

Chapter 159: Ignore And Accept

Those who were still fighting saw the Academy Leader’s death... and everyone got insanely pumped. He won!

Now there was only one thing left: clearing the planet of Risen... and then, hunting down any traitor Elders that might still be hiding somewhere.

There were about 80 Risen left... maybe a little less. They were in a chaotic, pre-complete transformation state. Out of the hundreds from before, many had already fallen to the twins, and a good chunk had died during Niara’s wild fight against the Risen Chief. These Risen didn’t even have enough intelligence left to pull back and ended up getting caught in the crossfire.

Darian took a deep breath. Most of his body still felt like it was made of elemental energy, but that was just a temporary state. Whenever he fully activated his control over the energies or elements, his body turned more ethereal, like he had become part of the elements themselves. He could even float.

But... it drained a lot of his inner energy, pulling from the rings on his forehead. He snorted and shifted his body, making it more solid again.

That body had been created using life energies, so it had this weird ability to change like it was both a soul and a living body. Maybe... this wasn’t even the only transformation possible. He’d have to explore that more later.

As he became more solid, gravity started pulling him down. When his body began to fall, he felt someone approaching—and two hands caught him.

Niara grabbed him by his serpentine body. He wasn’t very long, actually kind of thin, almost like a snake. His head and arms were small too, fitting with his overall size.

"!"

Darian felt something really strange and new the moment she touched him.

His eyes widened. Her bloodline was resonating with him. And not just that... suddenly, his senses expanded like crazy. It was like he could see everything around him without even needing to look.

And not just that! He could sense the moon where Endi was... and even nearby planets. And the worst part...

He felt like he could... no, it wasn’t possible right now, but... maybe someday... he could move elements from other planets all the way to where he was. The energy cost for something like that had to be a thousand times more than what he currently had... but still... in the future... maybe.... when he acquired many more rings than now, that is...

All of this hit him at once. But it was still unstable... like a camera lens trying to focus but failing to lock in.

"Oh? You’re connecting with my spiritual root?" Niara mumbled, noticing it too.

Darian snapped out of his daze, surprised. He looked at her... and understood. When Niara awakened her root and used her bloodline with it, she’d created a connection with the heavenly laws... just like a Primordial Dragon.

And this body of his... had been made with her bloodline... and because of the bond between them, he could use the bloodline in his own body together with her root for more power.

She gently shifted Darian and wrapped him around her neck. But... the moment their physical contact got even closer... Darian panicked when he felt those new senses becoming more stable.

"Oh?!" She noticed through the connection. "Could it be..."

She lifted him from her neck and moved him lower along her body. Darian’s eyes jumped wide—it got even more stable!

"Interesting..." She said with a light smile.

Her clothes were torn in a bunch of places. Darian sensed her next move and started struggling in her hands, trying to get away.

"Stay still. This is a test!" She said, amused.

She slipped him through a big tear in her clothes... putting him in direct contact with her skin. After wrapping him around her waist, Darian felt it... things were even more stable now.

She noticed that too, so she slowly moved him up, stopping right below two tall mounds... leaving him nestled right there.

"Hmm... so that’s where the center of my spiritual root is... For you to use everything I have, you’ll need to stay physically close..." She said calmly, to a now silent Darian. "Just stay wrapped around me... and your upper part can rise up between them."

After saying that, she positioned him, coiled around her body, right below her chest. She was about 70 centimeters in circumference at that point, so the rest of his body rose up between her cleavage and popped out through her neckline, wrapping a bit around her neck, with his head and two small arms resting on her shoulder.

Darian just let her do whatever she wanted without reacting. He had to come with terms with it. His partner was kind of a pervert, there was no doubt anymore.

He, who earlier felt awkward just from being placed in that general area... was now in an even worse situation. His entire body was tightly connected with hers.

"Don’t be so tense... you can move around however you want," she said slowly, clearly enjoying how embarrassed he was.

"You told me I have something called a Dantian way further down... it’s good you’re already close if you wanna ’explore’ it later. These clothes are in tatters anyway... we’ll need to find something more... suitable for both of us."

Darian had learned his lesson by now... he wasn’t going to argue with her, or things would just get even weirder.

The worst part was... she was right. Being this physically close really did let him connect to her spiritual root way more easily.

That position... so close... wrapped around her like that... allowing him to use it to the fullest.

His curse gave him control over energies and elements, but her bloodline and spiritual root made him connect to the laws of the universe. It was a scary combo... one that could open up new possibilities for him.

All of it took less than two minutes.

Darian sighed and squirmed a little... feeling the warmth and the comfortable sensation spreading through his whole new body, coming from her. He chose to ignore it and just accept the situation... silently. Obviously... he didn’t really mind it. And Niara could feel that perfectly.

He turned his attention to the twins in the distance.

"!"

As he focused on the Risen, he felt something new.

There was nothing visible there... it was completely hidden... but he was sure... it had to come directly from the laws of this universe.

That connection to the universe’s laws that he gained thanks to Niara... let him feel it for the first time. It was like the Risen had some invisible link to a place really far away... like a chain connected to both their soul and body.

’So this is what makes them Risen? Is this link connected to that Celestial Shadow the Risen Lord mentioned before?’ Darian muttered to himself. (Chapter 58)

When he heard the name Celestial Shadow back then... the Risen Lord had even asked why Darian had the same power as that entity. Added to the info from his master... Darian already knew that this was the final boss of this universe... the creator of all the Risen.

’If I cut this... would it...? Let’s test it.’ Darian had just seen an interesting possibility.

Niara nodded and flapped her wings.

They reached the sky above the battlefield... where only about 70 of those Risen were left now. Darian noticed that... since they were still unstable... their connection with the Celestial Shadow felt really weak.

Darian pointed at a female Risen with wings. That thing could fly... but it was so chaotic that it was just stumbling around on the ground, being pushed by the others.

Niara got close and, with one move, shoved all the others nearby far away.

Darian took a deep breath and moved a bit of black power. If he was dealing with two living beings... then this was a connection between living things.

*Slash*

He easily cut something invisible... right above the Risen’s head.

That very second... the Risen’s face went blank... and she dropped. It was like unplugging a machine from the wall.