Damned Healer-Chapter 204: Shaky Promise

Darian was watching through Mallory’s eyes.

She was sitting in a large hall, bathed in light, completely focused on a book. Every now and then, her hand gently rested on her swollen belly, her fingers sliding softly over it, feeling the little movements of the life growing inside her. There was a clear, unmistakable joy in every touch.

The silence was broken when a skinny man, a butler with a serious face, suddenly walked in.

He announced a gift from her father — something she’d clearly been waiting for. Mallory could barely hide her excitement. She grabbed something from a box, then quickly left the main building, heading toward a small structure behind it.

There, a dark entrance was open. Several figures were already waiting inside, silent.

"Let’s not waste time. My boy’s about to be born," Mallory said, her voice sharp with impatience.

Everyone nodded respectfully. One of them dared to ask about ’the Leader,’ but Mallory just scoffed. "My husband’s always working. The family leader doesn’t waste time on... irrelevant stuff. But this—this is important. This can’t wait. This is for my son."

No more words. They quickly led her further inside. The place was almost pitch black, and the thick, nauseating smell of blood hit her nose — and Darian’s — like a slap.

But her excitement drowned out any sense of disgust. Her steps were fast, almost like skipping — so fast that everyone around looked nervous. She was nearly nine months pregnant, practically running.

When she stepped into a heavily guarded chamber, Mallory’s gaze — and Darian’s — immediately locked onto a figure chained at the back.

A single man.

His body was covered in open wounds, deep bruises, cuts. His face was swollen, barely recognizable, dark and bruised... but even through all that mess, the green hair and the faint red glow in his eyes still stood out.

He felt them coming.

His bloodshot eyes, full of pain, slowly focused on her. And in that gaze... Darian instantly recognized something. Something painfully familiar.

"Darius... it’s finally over. Sorry it took so long. I really didn’t wanna make you suffer this much," Mallory’s voice came out sweet. Cheerful. Almost like she was singing.

All he managed was a deep, broken grunt. His throat was too damaged — he couldn’t even speak anymore.

"You didn’t really help, to be fair. You made this... way harder than it had to be. But anyway..." Mallory said, totally unfazed.

Suddenly, Darius started thrashing. A surge of rage and pure desperation. His swollen eyes went wide, locked onto her. His mouth opened, forcing itself to work, but all that came out was a violent cough of blood. His wounds split even more, blood dripping as his whole body convulsed in the chains.

Mallory just sighed, annoyed. "Brother, like I told you before... nobody’s gonna touch that whore or your kids. I’m not that cruel. You gave yourself up, and I’ll hold my end of the deal. Sure, the family’s ’officially’ looking for them... but it’s just for show. No one’s actually gonna find them."

For a moment... a small flicker of relief crossed Darius’s face. The tiniest spark of hope in his personal hell.

Mallory chuckled, sadistic. "But don’t get too happy... This is still gonna hurt. A lot. But hey — the end’s real close now."

She motioned with her hand and opened the box. From inside, she pulled out something — a small red dagger, covered in black runes that pulsed like they were alive.

The look in Darius’s swollen eyes changed instantly.

Her grin stretched even wider. "You get it now, right? Yeah... since the next heir’s about to be born, you can die proud. You’re gonna help him become the greatest, most powerful leader this family’s ever had."

She waved her hand behind her. A tall man, cold-eyed, stepped forward. Mallory handed him the dagger. He grabbed it and walked straight toward Darius.

What came next... was a nightmare.

The dagger, along with a bunch of other tools, was used on Darius’s body. He couldn’t even scream properly — just broken, hoarse cries of agony. His torture lasted for a full, miserable hour.

In the end... his life faded away. But in his last moments, he seemed... almost relieved. Holding on to that shaky promise that his family would be safe.

Mallory, meanwhile, held a small, glowing white crystal.

She had watched every second of it up close. And so did Darian. That dagger... it hadn’t just shredded Darius’s body. It pulled something tiny... something that wasn’t physical... right out of his soul.

The crystal, which had been dull before... was now glowing brighter and brighter. Something... something that wasn’t supposed to exist in it... was inside now.

"Perfect," Mallory said, her voice full of that twisted, disgusting joy as her hand softly caressed her belly. "Now... my son will be born with an ancestral spiritual root... right from the start."

***

Darian snapped back to reality in less than a minute. The silence in the room lingered, and Mallory thought it was normal — probably assumed he was just thinking things through.

Then... his eyes lit up, locking onto her again.

Right at that moment, Mallory felt a tight knot in her throat — like something invisible was squeezing the life out of her.

Darian took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

"So... you guys didn’t bother looking for us properly... because everyone in the family hated my father." Darian spoke each word like he was ripping it straight out of his chest.

Right next to his head, the little dragon leaned in, brushing her soft scales against his hair, comforting him gently.

’Calm down, Dan... don’t be reckless. Just me being like this... is already more than enough,’ Niara whispered in his mind.

Darian scoffed, letting out a dry laugh. He needed to stay calm... but after seeing all that... it was almost impossible.

Even though he never met him, that was still his father. And knowing the man died... gave himself up... after suffering that much... all just to make sure this bitch wouldn’t touch his family...

"Yeah. Once we found you, I spent some time digging properly into everything," Mallory said, sighing.

"Your mom... she wasn’t born in this empire. I don’t even know exactly where she’s from. Darius did a damn good job hiding everything — faked her name, her past, everything. When it all went down, he surrendered peacefully. But your mom escaped, changed her identity again, and took you three with her. They already had everything prepared in this empire... a whole new identity, a perfect fake background."

Darian and the twins both took deep breaths. That could mean... their mom’s family might still be out there somewhere. And maybe... they didn’t know anything about any of this.

"Well... that’s the past explained," Mallory said, staring right into Darian’s eyes. "Now let’s talk about the present. I’m pretty sure you already get where this is going, right?"

He scoffed and nodded, waving for her to continue.

"Those two demons you ran into... yeah, they’re Spiritual Sovereigns — but they’re not fully stabilized yet. Them, plus every single demon race in the universe, were working together, doing everything to help those two get what they needed. But you... you ruined everything."

"You have no idea how big the mess is. I’ll tell you something, something not a lot of people know. Right now, there are seven fully stabilized Spiritual Sovereigns in the universe. Only seven. And one of them... is a demon."

"There’s not a single human at that level. Two of them are beasts. If those two demons had succeeded, there’d be three demon Sovereigns standing at the top. You wrecked the entire demon race’s plan... and worse... you made yourself a direct enemy of one of the Seven Sovereigns. The Sovereigns are the ones who rule the universe. They decide the rules for every single planet. Having one of them gunning for you... I’m sorry, Darian, but..."

"I get where you’re going with this," Darian cut her off, cold as ice.

She stared at him, dead serious. Their eyes locked — and Mallory felt a chill run straight down her spine.

"Let me be real clear," Darian’s voice came out sharp, cold as death. "Fuck those two... and fuck the demons. My problems are mine. I’ll handle them. As for me, Lucy, and Lucius... to us, you people are nothing. Complete strangers. Random nobodies."

His words hit like blades. His eyes were burning. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

"You have no right to stick your nose in our business. No negotiations. No favors. No deals. And if any of you dare... dare come near me or them again... I won’t hesitate. No mercy. I’ll wipe every single one of you off the map. Now... get the hell out of here."