Damned Healer-Chapter 699: Be Proud

Darian was attacking with Blinding Break for the third time, burning the last bits of strength from his three partners. But now, he had managed to synchronize his attack with the Zenith state.

Suddenly, Darian felt his body boil, and his senses expand in a way he had never experienced before. A wave of energy emanated from the manifestation, and, at the same time, the Laws of the world twisted in his favor.

Before, his primordial physique was like a powerful dam, with only a small opening allowing his power to pass through. Even though that let him fight longer and made him terrifying defensively, his instant burst potential for attacking with his technique was limited.

But now, by fusing his primordial physique with the Zenith state, he could open the dam's floodgates in an instant, releasing everything he had all at once if he wished.

That increase in potential made *Blinding Break* several times stronger. Unfortunately, Darian had to use it three times to make it work perfectly. There was nothing he could do—this was the first time he was using this power at its absolute peak. Life never gave him enough time; he had to make it work in the middle of danger.

"!"

The enemy's eyes changed. In front of such power, he seemed incredibly weak—after all, he was fighting using a frail ethereal body.

That figure could no longer remain indifferent. The destructive blade was already moving toward him. Then, a chain appeared in his hand, like the others—but this one condensed all the power of his will into a single point.

**BOOM!**

The entire spatial rift cracked. Niara felt a sharp pain, and her vision darkened.

Everything began to collapse; that world couldn't withstand a clash of that magnitude. But she pulled out a strength she didn't even know she had.

She couldn't let it fall apart. The whole universe depended on it.

The cracks froze, no longer spreading. For now, she managed to hold it together.

At the center of everything, that figure staggered back; he had managed to defend at an extremely high cost. Instead of rage or despair, as one would expect… his eyes shone with excitement.

"Hahaha, excellent! I've finally found the destined Missionary!" he laughed, as if he had discovered an invaluable treasure.

Darian had no idea what this destined Missionary was supposed to be. So he ignored it and kept chasing him. He stored Eleri and grabbed Awel. His three partners were exhausted, but Awel could still help him because of the sharpening rune seal.

This fight couldn't last much longer. Darian could feel that Niara was already going beyond her limit. On top of that, his Zenith state couldn't be maintained for long either. He had to kill his opponent before his strength ran out.

*BOOM!*

Darian slashed, striking the chain and activating the sharpening rune seal.

Once again, countless barbs sprouted from the chain—but this time his power was so overwhelming that the barbs exploded.

That figure blocked again, being pushed back by the impact. He had already lost 80% of his runes blocking those two moves.

Darian sensed the moment and pressed forward. At that instant, a black sphere appeared in his free hand. He hurled it at the enemy without hesitation.

The sphere shot forward, piercing through his body brutally like a cannonball.

That figure was extremely shocking. He had never seen such terrifying magic. He felt its origin… which made him even more alarmed. Was that the power of karma? He thought.

He tried to close the massive hole in his ethereal body, but noticed black lines spreading across it like poison. His eyes widened. What in the world could poison a body created from his own power? That was impossible!

*Rumble!*

The moment he tried to contain that poison, a scarlet lightning bolt struck him.

It pierced his body like a spear and, the instant it entered, spread like a vicious curse, mixing with the black poison.

Darian felt his heart race. That manifestation was truly incredible.

His black power, which had become almost obsolete at his current level, had now regained terrifying effectiveness. On top of that, the Nether power he had recently gained had also become a second weapon capable of poisoning.

He used both against the enemy; once they invaded, they worked together to devour all life.

Darian couldn't give him time to breathe. Without hesitation, all his black power surged, and he attacked with everything once more.

*Blinding Break!*

That figure stared at this horrifying sequence in shock. Darian was a Missionary, but still a mortal. Even so, every move he made grew stronger and stronger, making him feel fear.

At that critical moment, he moved all his runes, activating a technique he didn't want to use. The chain disappeared, then fused with his ethereal body, creating shining armor.

*BOOM!*

Darian's power struck the armor head-on, shattering it instantly. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

But the figure managed to defend, even though his body was almost completely destroyed, and barely 1% of his runes remained.

He had never imagined that a mortal Missionary possessed such power. If he had his true body in this fight, he could win easily—but he would still have to fight seriously, because Darian was even capable of threatening his life.

Amid the chaos, he saw Darian advancing toward him again. Without hesitation, that figure ignited everything he still had.

*BOOM!*

They clashed directly once more. Darian used all the power of his physique, Chaos Blink, and the daggers, searching for a single opening to win. But…

With every passing second, he felt like nothing he did was enough. This was the most powerful enemy he had ever fought—and he didn't even have his full power available.

The cracks in that small world began spreading again because Niara could no longer keep everything stable. This fight couldn't last much longer.

After just a few minutes…

…everything went silent.

Darian stood still, breathing heavily, feeling the Zenith state on the verge of fading.

"Hahaha...." That figure's booming laughter echoed.

Amid the chaos of space slowly stabilizing, Darian saw a white light even more radiant than before rising from him. There was no sign of poison, curse, or lack of energy.

It wasn't surprising. As Darian fought, instead of this enemy's power decreasing as it should have, it actually began to increase. How? That was obvious.

Niara could see what was happening outside, and when the Mannaz in the universe used this enemy's power to fight, Darian realized it. Everything the Mannaz had came from him, so when he felt he was about to lose to Darian with what he had, he started pulling back the power that was being used outside.

Yes, this spatial rift cut off all connection with the universe and its Laws. Even so, he still managed to do it. After all, this figure was an immortal at the peak of possible power.

Compared to him, the Celestial Shadow was like a cockroach that could be crushed with a single move. Even the Divine Dragon would only be a slightly bigger cockroach in front of him.

Darian couldn't do anything against him, even going all out. But at the same time, he felt slightly relieved, because this took the pressure off his army outside.

Once all the Mannaz lost their power, they would be eliminated in moments. Then the entire galaxy would fall under his army's control.

As for the Celestial Shadow… Darian was certain that now that this figure had appeared and taken over his soul, he wouldn't survive. With each passing second of this fight, the Celestial Shadow's soul grew thinner, proving that this was the price he paid for making a deal with that immortal.

So technically, this universe was already saved. Darian had fulfilled his promise and won.

But to guarantee that, he needed to expel this figure from here.

Darian took a deep breath.

To win, there was only one way.

Since he could only use that once, he had first fought while searching for an opening in the enemy's defenses to ensure victory. But that opening never came. Now, he could only use it head-on, going all out one last time.

Inside his soul, at a specific point in the center of his energy, a door opened. From it, a power that should never be accessed by anyone slowly flowed out.

A distorted, colorless aura emerged around Darian. In that instant, the world seemed to freeze.

That figure's expression suddenly changed.

"Power of Origin… how… how is this possible…" he stammered, clearly shocked.

A chill ran down his spine. Now he was sure. His excitement about capturing Darian and absorbing everything he had was nothing but a ridiculous dream.

If he were in his original body, maybe it would be possible. But facing the power of Origin, in his current situation, it was impossible. But…

…he wouldn't lose either.

"Fine. Since you want it so badly, I'll give you what you want!" he spat those words, full of hatred. He had never felt such rage before; it was like watching an unreachable treasure slip through his fingers.

At the same time, he couldn't let Darian leave freely. A Missionary who was still just a mortal, and yet this terrifying? Darian was definitely a huge threat to him. Since he couldn't capture him, he had to kill him at any cost.

Darian felt completely cornered. Throughout his journey, he had always managed to win his battles in the end, even if there were losses and nothing was ever perfect. But now…

"!"

Darian's eyes widened.

That figure waved his hand. In front of him, a white chain appeared, condensing all his power. Then…

A distorted, colorless energy emerged around the chain.

It was the power of Origin.

"You thought you were hot stuff, huh? Got used to being an all-powerful Missionary, always having knowledge and powers no one else could even dream of, didn't you? How did it feel to always win? It felt amazing, right? Everyone around you must adore you, admire you… I know exactly how that feels. But unfortunately, that's just an illusion. Heaven's Will gave us all that just to make us fall in love with power, so we'd keep obeying it."

The figure spoke, radiating intense killing intent.

Darian stared at him. Clearly, he had no control whatsoever over the power of Origin, but he could extract it directly from the Celestial Shadow's soul and use it in a crude way.

Darian swallowed hard. The only weapon he had… the enemy had it too.

What could he do?

"Hahaha… that's a great expression." The figure saw the shift in Darian's gaze and mocked him.

"Be proud. You're really strong enough to defeat me in this current situation. But I won't lose. I don't need to kill you directly. I just need to blow up the entire building, and you'll be buried under the destruction. I'll destroy this entire universe with you inside it."

When he said that, Darian felt his soul freeze.