Damned Healer

Chapter 769 769: What Happened?

Darian and the Demon called Aegmi were standing just a few meters apart. All the cultivators watching in the arena could easily focus their senses on one of the battles and watch everything in detail.The rules had been explained earlier by the Elder. Once they entered, they had to wait for the signal to start.

The victor would be the one still alive at the end, or the one who left the opponent completely unable to fight. However, either side could simply say the words 'I give up', and the arena's inscription would automatically take them out safely.

At that moment, a green light appeared above Darian's and the Demon's heads. That was the signal to begin.

Neither of them moved.

Remira watched everything closely, waiting for Darian to draw his weapon. She hoped he would use a weapon that wasn't a dagger; that way, she would be sure the memories from his other life were far away.

She knew well that Darian had been married in the past. But after dying and reincarnating, the loves of the past were just that, the past. Because of that, there was no obstacle or moral issue with her trying to connect with him this time.

Darian's opponent's strength was only reasonable in Remira's eyes. At the very least, she could see how Darian would deal with him.

On the stage, Aegmi held a thin saber in his hands, while Darian remained unarmed.

That demon smiled coldly. "It's already a big achievement for a human kid like you to be here. The Golden Crow Sect really got lucky this time. But what a shame, you just lost that luck; the first opponent you'll face is me."

Aegmi didn't even consider Darian an opponent. He was a talent capable of fighting even opponents from higher realms; against someone at the same cultivation level as him, it wasn't even worth spending energy. Only those in the universe's top 10 were in his eyes.

"Hum?" Aegmi hadn't even finished speaking when he saw that Darian had closed his eyes.

'What is this guy doing? Is he looking down on me?' Aegmi thought, frowning.

He wanted to finish this fight quickly, so he was going to show a bit of strength to make Darian give up right away. But seeing such blatant disrespect, he decided to give him a small lesson in humility.

"Ok, fuck it!"

That Demon roared. Then a wave of energy and runes swirled in his hand like a liquid rainbow. It was truly hypnotizing. As soon as he waved, all that power fused with his saber, releasing a frightening pressure and power.

Watching the fight, everyone from the Golden Crow Sect and the Bakunawa Abyssal Triarchy held their breath. Darian was the only one among them fighting in the first round.

Even Vymara, looking at that pulsating saber, felt that she would be in serious trouble. But… neither she nor the other five trained by Darian felt the slightest anxiety. For them, nothing at the same level, or even far above Darian's cultivation, could dream of defeating him.

In response to all the actions Aegmi had taken...

Darian simply opened his eyes.

"!"

That demon suddenly froze in place, and his eyes widened.

His vision changed, replaced by countless visions and images invading his mind. His body trembled, his pupils lost focus, and then he slowly collapsed to the ground with a dull thud.

A yellowish light appeared above, indicating the end of that fight.

Darian slowly turned and walked away. Part of the audience watching that fight suddenly fell completely silent.

"What happened?" someone murmured after a few seconds. "Did that human Darian even move? His movements were too fast; I couldn't even see clearly."

"No, he didn't move... he just looked at him..." someone beside him replied.

"How is that possible?!"

A more experienced figure took a deep breath. "That... was soul power... he used a terrible and almost undetectable technique with soul power. That young demon was completely caught off guard and couldn't defend himself."

People heard that and quickly swallowed nervously.

"That Darian, he's the new Alchemist Emperor. So his combat power is based on soul power, besides, of course, the Golden Crow flames," another person added.

At that moment, several others watching reached the same conclusion. An alchemist must have strong soul power. Knowing that Darian was the new Alchemist Emperor, everyone finally understood what had happened.

In the VIP room, Remira seemed even more relieved.

When she met Darian, he wasn't good at using soul attacks. In this new life, being the son of who he was, he must have learned these things. That means he really changed.

Or... was his opponent simply not worthy of seeing his real techniques?

Darian calmly returned to his group's side. Everyone was smiling and clenched their fists excitedly, then turned to watch the other fights.

Darian had been the first to win. In less than fifteen minutes, the last fight ended.

Soon, the next matches were announced. This time, six figures from Darian's group would fight. Among them were Pyreus and Gelidra.

The six moved out, but one figure in the group was taking somewhat shaky steps.

It was a boy from the Golden Crow Sect, one of the youngest among the 87. He came from the Mortal Plane, and not even in his wildest dreams had he imagined being in a place like this now. Because of that, his nervousness was inevitable.

Darian spoke softly. "Tieol, right? Just show people your strength; you don't need to think too much about anything. In the future, your family and everyone from the sect will watch you fight. This fight of yours will never be a reason for shame, but pride for them, just because you're there fighting. So try to fight, but don't risk your life for nothing."

The young man named Tieol turned to Darian with eyes full of admiration. Energy flowed through his whole body. "Yes, I'll do my best!"

He said it with all his will, but his words were also for himself. Then he turned and hurried forward.

Everyone stepped onto their respective martial stages and faced their opponents very seriously.

When the start signal appeared, Pyreus roared, and that entire small world was swallowed by a sea of golden flames.

His opponent was caught off guard; that consumed an astonishing amount of energy, and he was burning everything right from the start!

His opponent was a Demonic Beast, which assumed its true form, resembling a giant bat. It roared while protecting itself from the flames, but...

Suddenly, the flames all moved together in a single direction.

Everything happened very fast. In mere seconds, the only source of light inside that stage was a pulsating sword in Pyreus's hands.

"Golden Annihilation!"

He roared, and his sword slashed.

"I GIVE UP!!"

The opponent screamed in complete horror. At the same instant, his figure disappeared.

The people from his sect sighed in relief; if he had been arrogant and dared try to defend against that, he would have at least been seriously injured.

Pyreus stopped in the center, then tightened his grip on his sword, and the golden light on the blade began to flicker. In the next second, the essence of the flame moved toward him, being reabsorbed by him.

Gildor smiled in satisfaction. That was one of the greatest techniques of the Golden Crow Canon, Devour Yang.

In short, Pyreus didn't spend even a single drop of power to win. Everything he used returned to him, but even if he had needed to attack for real, Darian had taught him to focus his power and use it precisely, without exploding everything at once.

Darian turned his gaze to Gelidra's fight. Her opponent was a humanoid hybrid beast, and she had entered a furious battle of attrition with him. But... unfortunately for that opponent, Gelidra specialized in water in the form of ice. Her defensive power was absurdly high, and creating ice cost her very little.

Meanwhile, the opponent had to attack with his war hammer using all his strength, without getting much result.

After five minutes, that demon stopped and admitted defeat.

As for the other four fights, as expected, three had already given up. They at least exchanged a few blows, but it quickly became clear they would never win, and they chose not to risk it. Since the other side also didn't want to waste energy for nothing, no one got injured.

The only fight in the group that hadn't ended was the one with the boy Tieol. He was facing a short and thin Demoness with a single horn. She had a sinister smile on her face.

That Demoness fought without releasing great power, holding a black blade as she slashed and moved, dodging with agility.

Tieol roared and attacked with his golden flames with extreme precision. Since his opponent didn't seem to have that much power, he felt he still had a chance to win.

Even if that Demoness was hiding her strength, fighting someone who was holding back this much to deceive him could create an unexpected disaster for herself. In other words, Tieol only needed an opening, and maybe he could really win by surprise.

The fight dragged on for more than ten minutes.

At that moment, everyone noticed the reality. Tieol was constantly being cut by the blade and never managed to truly hit the target. Blood was already flowing all over his body.

"Damn... that creepy woman is a specialist in the power of space, and her clothes and weapons are some kind of extremely high-level treasure, matching that power and amplifying it. Tieol will never hit her because of that. If they were on equal footing, he might have had a chance." One young man from Darian's group murmured.

Everyone nodded, but no one complained or felt angry. In a fight, there is no justice or injustice. Every piece of equipment is part of a person's individual strength.

About a minute later, Tieol stopped attacking.

He focused on that Demoness, then smiled and bowed politely. "Thank you for the tips, Lady. I give up."

She smiled back and waved. But... her gaze carried a different glint, something only the most experienced people in the stands noticed.

Darian, obviously, noticed that. But after the surrender, everything was already over.

Tieol was taken out. At that moment, he snorted and turned toward his group.

He didn't even have time to take a single step.

In the very next second...

*BOOOM!*

Everyone in the stands jumped in shock, turning toward the same direction, the center of the arena.

"NO!" screams of extreme terror echoed.

At that moment, a mist of blood spread through the air, accompanied by an intense primordial aura spreading in every direction.

This was the Golden Crow Bloodline.

Tieol... simply ceased to exist, without even the smallest trace left behind.