Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 24B2 - The Last?

David quickly processed the streams of information flooding his mind. He learned the basics of [Mind Palace] and [A Body’s Purity], though there wasn’t much to grasp. From what he could tell, the latter was a passive Skill Rune that enhanced his body’s resilience against all kinds of harmful substances—rotting, poison, and more—while also strengthening him physically. However, as the notification appeared, he barely felt the latter’s effect.

[Class Skills [Mind Palace] and [A Body’s Purity] have been fused to your Source.]

Following the notification, David checked his status for any changes.

[Reinforce]: [Tier-1 VII]

Body: Average: III (0.00%)

Energy Pathways: Average: I (0.00%)

[Mind Palace]: [Lowest: Basic]

[A Body’s Purity]: [Tier-1 I]

He raised an eyebrow at his physique’s improvement. Apparently, his Average Body had increased from I to III, likely thanks to [A Body’s Purity]. If not for [Reinforce], he would never have noticed a difference. He got up from the bed and threw a punch into the air, sending a small shockwave outward—but that was nothing new.

I’m stronger, but the improvement could also be from my Body advancing to High Intermediate, David thought, testing his agility and flexibility before sitting on the edge of his bed again. He was clearly faster, more flexible, and physically stronger, but it was hard to tell how much of that came from [Reinforce]. That left many questions, but there was no need to rush into answering them.

“Calm and decisive. We only have a few days left to make use of the Blessing,” he reminded himself, discarding all thoughts of experimenting with [Reinforce] and his new Skills. [Mind Palace] seemed useful, but when he briefly tapped into its Rune, he realized it consumed even more Aether than [Reinforce].

Creating a palace in his mind could wait.

David got up and left his room, making his way to the bustling market square teeming with dwarves, elves, and other races. He weaved through the crowd until he reached a familiar merchant.

“Merchant Elion.”

David greeted the elven merchant, who turned to him with a deep frown.

“I see you’re overjoyed to see me again.”

Elion rolled his eyes and hissed, “Cut the crap. What do you want?”

“Great customer service,” David commented as he retrieved the item drops from the prehistoric Rift one by one. “I want to sell everything.”

Elion’s eyes widened as more armaments and valuable goods appeared before him.

“And don’t even think about offering me a low price. I don’t feel like wasting my time negotiating today.”

“Esteemed customer, did you not sleep well?” Elion’s tone shifted, but David only frowned at him.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stay silent.”

“These are from a natural, Rare 3-Star Rift. You won’t find goods like these often around here.” He smirked. “For a while, at least.”

Merchant Elion nodded and began inspecting the goods.

***

After selling the unneeded item drops, David sought out merchants willing to buy monster parts, trading the valuable remains of Giants and prehistoric creatures they had encountered. His pouch was now filled with currency slates, yet the money meant little to him. He had no use for it beyond buying food and securing a roof over his head.

He channeled Blood into his eyes, transforming the Sanctuary into a flickering mass of life signals. Locking onto a familiar one, he found Melach at the Artificer’s home.

When she opened the door, the Tirac Artificer arched a brow.

“What are you doing here? Your Blood Storage won’t be complete anytime soon.”

Anytime soon? That was disappointing. David sighed inwardly but retrieved the Bloodstones harvested from the Stone Giants and handed them to her.

“These are for you. I hope we can lower the price for the Blood Storage with these. They’re all damaged, more or less, but I’m pretty sure you can fix some of them.”

He shrugged. “Even if you can’t use them to replicate my Source’s energy reservoir, I know they can contain Blood. So… you might be able to do something useful with them.”

The scales covering the Artificer’s body clattered wildly. “Stone Giants? Are you one of the two crazy humans who visited the natural Rift with Melach and his dwarven friend?”

David caught Melach peeking out from around the corner, bringing a smile to his lips. “I know he’s here. Melach is the reason I came here. Precisely, to give him his share of the profit we made.”

He retrieved a small pouch filled with currency slates from his spatial storage and lobbed it in the elf’s direction. The elf caught it mid-air and smiled wryly back at him.

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“I doubt you called your family. Do that, or I will request their information from the Familia and cause a scene when they pick up,” David teased Melach. He didn’t know if it was possible to get the elf’s information from the Familia, but seeing Melach’s face was satisfying enough.

He burst into laughter and left, but not without hearing the Tirac Artificer call him both insane and lucky. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

David shrugged and searched for Zachariah. Finding him turned out to be easier than expected.

He discovered more familiar life signals and returned to the market square, where he found Zachariah leaving the Familia with the Protector Captain. They exchanged a few words, and the Protector Captain gave a slight bow before they separated.

David approached the regressor with a smile, which Zachariah reciprocated.

“You disappeared after the fight with the bandits. I was almost worried that it was too much for you to handle. Almost,” Zachariah said with a flat smile.

David shrugged. “I pushed my Secondary Class to the Bronze Rank. It took a little bit longer than expected, but I feel much better now. Meditating is really helpful for relieving stress, but so is fighting powerful monsters.”

The regressor raised an eyebrow. “You look better. Though it will take me a while to get used to your crimson eyes. To think you’d undergo a Modification.”

“Either way.” He waved dismissively. “I talked to Protector Kurkur about the bandit attack and mentioned the Dwarven Sanctuary. He seemed surprised, but it looks like he is not one of Fortress’ zealots. If I’m not wrong, the other Dwarven Protectors are not Fortress’ devout believers either. That makes everything a bit easier.”

True. David nodded in agreement. If the dwarven residents and Protectors located in Arc were all Fortress’ zealots, they would migrate to the Dwarven Sanctuary, transforming Arc into a ghost town. Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad, but David was sure it would cause some problems, given how many Protectors died fighting the Darkai Horde and the bandit attack.

They left the market square and found a secluded spot to talk in private.

“Do you think they will reach out for treaties and trades? If the Sanctuaries were to combine their forces to deal with threats like bandits, their chances of survival would be… higher,” David asked, wondering what would have happened if they hadn’t returned from the prehistoric Rift in time. Only a few human bandits had been powerful enough to consider them a threat, but there had been hundreds. If not for him, Melach, and Zachariah, the situation would have looked different—worse.

“They will be fine. I think Kurkur has a plan.” Zachariah didn’t sound like he was particularly bothered about Arc’s well-being. “I’m more interested in the bandits.”

The bandits? David tilted his head. “Did they interrogate them already?”

The regressor sighed, clenching his fists. “The interrogation started, but nobody is talking. The Protector Captain approached me to assist with the interrogation. Unfortunately, my interrogation skills aren’t working. The bandits are scared shitless… but instead of talking, they’re just dying.”

David cocked an eyebrow at that. “You accidentally killed them?”

“No, it’s more like a seal—similar to the restraints put on me. You know, the headache and bleeding from all orifices whenever I talk too much about my past.”

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“Is it your past or the future you can’t talk about?” David asked.

Zachariah shrugged. “A bit of both, I guess. But it feels like the restrictions are growing weaker. Since Fortress verified that they still remember the last Cycle, the restraints might be loosening. Or maybe it's more accurate to say they eased after I realized that the Pantheon and other transcendent beings still remember the last Cycle.”

“Does that mean you can tell me more?” David’s eyes widened, and his heartbeat accelerated.

The regressor looked unsure, but he tried regardless. Zachariah told him a bit about the last Cycle and everything he and his allies had gone through. He only stopped when his complexion changed. By the time he finished speaking, Zachariah looked utterly drained, almost lifeless. However, David could sense that the regressor still had much more to say.

“My initial plan was to reach Advanced in all stats, achieve the Gold Rank, and gather my allies before the World Awakening. Defeating the Mistwalker and several other formidable enemies was also on my to-do list, but I only accomplished half of it. I found William, but I have yet to kill him. The initial plan was to kill him before he finishes his Third Class Advancement but now… Now he’s several times stronger than he used to be,” Zachariah spat on the ground, his expression grim.

William? David frowned, his thoughts drifting to his friend for a moment when the regressor mentioned the name. It couldn’t be the same William, though. His friend was a great guy, and it wasn’t like William was a rare name. David could recall at least half a dozen people named William.

“Everything is different this time,” Zachariah grimaced, distracting David.

David studied the regressor and wondered aloud, “Do you think the Earthen Union has gone through multiple Cycles before this one?”

Zachariah’s head flicked toward him, his eyes narrowing to tiny slits. For a moment, he looked ready to pounce on David, as if he would tear him apart. However, he eased up, his expression contorted in pain.

“I… don’t know. It’s possible. But this time is definitely different than last time. I cannot say anything about the previous Cycles, but I do know that transcendent beings do not have an unlimited supply of Essence. In my Cycle, they did not interfere much. If anything, they only began interfering actively years after the World Awakening.”

David shuddered, realizing what Zachariah meant. “But this time, they started intervening even before the World Awakening.”

“Exactly,” Zachariah nodded, his face souring. “It’s not just the Pantheon—Pandemonium and even Old Ones like Asmodeus joined the ‘game’ long before we finished the tutorial, which was what they called the period before the World Awakening in my Cycle.”

The regressor suddenly laughed, but it sounded hollow. “Did you know that there are currently more Rifts in our region compared to some countries in the first months of the Integration in the previous Cycle? What does that tell you?”

What does that mean? David tilted his head, his heart pounding in his throat. For one, everything Zachariah had just mentioned indicated that various transcendent beings considered it crucial to intervene and invest in the Earthen Union this time, while it had been unnecessary in the last Cycle.

“I think we are in the last Cycle. The gods are getting impatient—they’re scared,” Zachariah said.

Scared of what? David wondered in silence, noticing blood dripping from the regressor’s nose.

“Scared of them,” Zachariah added, ignoring the trickling blood even as it transformed into a small stream.

David cast [Healing Sphere], slowing the bleeding, but Zachariah continued speaking. “I don’t think I can tell you much about them, but I should at least tell you that—despite their deep hatred for one another—the Pantheon, the Pandemonium, the Old Ones, and others will fight them together.”

Blood poured from his eyes, ears, and mouth as well, yet Zachariah did not stop.

“Working together against them doesn’t mean the organizations won’t prioritize their own people’s growth. They will give their utmost to strike you down if they deem you too dangerous to keep alive,” Zachariah said, coughing up blood. “Even if it means ensuring their enemies' victory. Not all transcendent beings are selfish, but you do have to be careful of those who are.”