Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 32B2 - Surgeon

Despite his weak life signals, the towering man before David appeared strong and vigorous. He flexed his muscles and shot him a grim look.

David didn’t know what Lukas and the others had told him, but the man’s expression made it clear he didn’t trust him much. He probably trusted him about as far as he could throw him—which, judging by his build, was quite far. But David wasn’t concerned.

“Are you ready, or do you want to fight first to see if you can trust me?” he remarked, bringing a smile to the man’s face.

“Go for it and remove the mark. We can fight afterward.”

“I’ll be busy once I remove your mark—if it can be removed, that is,” David said, gesturing for the man to sit.

The towering man did as instructed, settling onto a chair in the middle of the town plaza. David felt the weight of dozens of eyes on him. He smiled, conjured the Obsidian Blade, and slashed at the man, cleanly severing his shirt. The man swallowed hard, and David noticed the hairs on his arms stand on end.

David’s smile widened as he dismissed the Obsidian Blade into his mind space. He studied the lifeforce thread and immediately spotted the scythe mark etched onto the man’s chest.

Let’s see what isolating does, he thought, pressing his hand firmly against the mark. His lips parted, and he began reciting Words of Power, invoking the Law of Blood while casting [Blessing] on [Holy Touch] as he sent it into the man’s body.

The man’s body instinctively resisted [Holy Touch]’s tendrils, but David crushed the natural resistance with a mental command. Once the body stopped fighting back, he spread [Holy Touch] through it. The initial examination took a few minutes, draining a considerable amount of energy, but it told David everything he needed to proceed.

He moved onward, connecting the crimson threads and shrouding the scythe mark with them. Once the tendrils sealed the mark, his recitation ended. The Law of Blood activated, shifting the crimson threads of [Holy Touch]. Instead of attracting lifeforce and Aether, the threads now repelled them, keeping the lifeforce thread away from the scythe mark.

With the mark isolated from the rest of the body, the towering man could finally recuperate as David cast [Restore]. The man’s complexion improved, but his life signals didn’t recover as quickly as expected. When he opened his eyes, he was gritting his teeth, looking like something or someone had hurt him.

Had the isolation been painful? That was a bit surprising.

David cast [Weave of Life] to preserve the man’s life in case of an emergency. However, nothing alarming seemed to happen after the isolation was complete. The man’s life signals improved slowly, and no more lifeforce escaped his body. But David was certain the situation would take a turn the moment he removed [Holy Touch]’s seal.

Several minutes passed, but the mark showed no sign of weakening. He had half-expected it to be empowered by the lifeforce of its victims, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“He’s doing better!” someone exclaimed, but David could only sigh at the party’s enthusiasm.

“This is only temporary. I isolated the mark, allowing him to retain the benefits of my Healing Runes. But the effect won’t last forever,” he explained, glancing at the seven people. “Did someone already try cutting out the mark?”

Lukas and company paled at his words. Either they were shocked he would suggest something so crude, or they had already tried and failed miserably.

“I have an idea, but either we succeed and can help everyone, or it fails and injures you. In the worst case, the mark explodes and kills us all,” David told the towering man in a matter-of-fact tone. “Do you want to give it a try?”

“I don’t like the way you talk about my death, but if that’s what it takes to find a way to help everyone else…” The man shrugged, trying to hide the fear in his eyes. David could see it, though, which only made him respect him more. The man added, “I will gladly die if that is what it takes.”

What a savage, David thought. He liked him.

The Obsidian Blade materialized in his hands, and he shrouded it in Rend’s gray glimmer, pouring as much power into the Intent as he could muster. He overclocked [Blessing] on it, layered [Holy Touch], and finally parted his lips to utter Words of Power.

But this time, the Words of Power were different. He experimented, holding onto the snippets of words that surfaced in his mind whenever he used Rend.

At last, he focused more Blood into Bloodthrone Dominion. Then, without hesitation, he stepped closer and stabbed the man.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

The soulbound weapon’s tip cut into the scythe mark, slicing through skin and flesh. The man stirred and started screaming as the lifeforce within him went wild.

David noticed a shift in the scythe mark and focused on it as his blade sank deeper.

"Restrain him!" David snarled as he narrowly missed piercing the man's heart. He could feel the man's pulsating heart with surprising clarity as the Obsidian Blade cut deeper. He winced when the man stirred again.

Rend grazed the heart's edge, slicing into it as Lukas and the others failed to restrain him properly.

David cursed and released minuscule threads from [Holy Touch] that coated the blade, sealing the cut. The crimson threads weren’t perfect for the process, but he made them work, knitting the tiny wound in the man’s heart. He also cast [Restore], healing the heart before something worse could happen.

While healing the man, David failed to notice the scythe mark’s appearance shifting. The mark showed signs of dissipating. It didn’t disappear entirely, but it seemed as though the ‘issue’ was no more.

In his surprise, he must have released the seal, but the mark no longer drained the man’s lifeforce.

Not perfect, but good enough for now, he thought as the man collapsed.

Zora rushed to the man to heal him. She gasped, and her head jerked up to David.

"You... healed him? How did you do that?" she asked, aghast.

"How about you heal him first?" David said, cutting off Zora, whose holy power stirred moments later.

"He is fine now?" Lukas asked into the silence. "He didn’t die like Merlin?"

The others paled at the mention of the name. Was Merlin the guy they had tried cutting open first? So they did actually attempt removing the mark.

"The mark won’t drain his lifeforce anymore. As for the mark’s other abilities, I don’t know what they’re doing or if they still work," David said confidently, trying to hide his surprise.

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Rend had actually severed the mark’s connection to the towering man. It worked—far better than he had hoped!

He would have to optimize the ‘surgery,’ but that shouldn’t be a problem. As long as he refined the process using the toughest men and women first, it would be easier to perform the fully optimized version on the frail and elderly. One way or another, David was confident he could fix them—all of them.

"How about we keep going? I don’t want to stay here for weeks, severing Curses left and right," David announced, clapping his hands. "Who’s next?"

For the next patient, David didn’t isolate the scythe mark. He overclocked [Blessing] on Rend at full power again and applied [Holy Touch] in case he had to tend to another wounded heart—just in case he poked one again. He maintained [Weave of Life] as a precaution and severed the lifeforce threads from the mark.

There was no need to rush the process, but neither did he see a reason to slow it down.

He fixed the second patient, wiped his sweaty forehead, and proceeded with the third and fourth patients.

"Gather everyone," David commanded. "We’re going to speedrun through this mess!"

***

The following hours felt like torture. Not only was David both tormenter and healer, but he was tormented as well.

Despite Rend being only an Intent—contrary to the Law of Blood—he was forced to unleash its full power for an extended period. It strained his Source and harmed him greatly, even as he optimized the surgery to use Rend only briefly whenever he helped one of the Cursed.

Regardless of the pain, David gained valuable insight. He continued improving his technique, refining it over and over until he managed to use his fingers to perform the surgery instead.

The Obsidian Blade was too wide, and the patients’ movements too rigid, increasing the chance of lethal injuries. Two patients had nearly died when they moved too much, causing the Obsidian Blade to pierce their hearts.

It was a challenge to pull them back from death’s door, but he had managed—earning him several unexpected benefits.

However, putting aside his boons, David was most pleased with how fast he could perform surgery now. It was swift and more precise than before, allowing him to cut into the mark easily and sever its problematic properties.

The mark no longer dissipated, but it had stopped draining the Cursed’s lifeforce. That was all that mattered.

David was exhausted and drenched in sweat. His chest heaved heavily, but he still had enough Blood to use—especially after his feat had granted him several boons, including a growth spurt.

Without hesitation, he conjured [Healing Sphere] in the dozens, spreading them through the plaza and its surroundings.

David watched in glee as everyone’s condition improved before casting [Restore] on the weak and elderly. He spread [Weave of Life] across the plaza until only two drops of Blood remained in his Source.

Noticing the intense stares behind him, David turned to face Lukas and the others.

Zora stared at him with wide eyes, but what surprised him most was Maja.

She looked at him differently than before.

He knew that look. He glanced back at her, watching her squirm and blush.

I changed more than I expected, he thought, failing to feel even a flicker of interest in the woman.

Come to think of it, David realized he hadn't thought about women in a long time. It hadn't excited him even before the integration started, but that had never stopped him from conquering them. But now? He preferred battling the strong and healing the weak over sex. And, of course, growing stronger.

That last part surprised him. Not the desire to grow stronger—but the fact that he'd rather heal the weak than spend quality time with women. Then again, maybe growing stronger and healing the weak were two sides of the same coin.

The feeling of growing stronger—of becoming a better, mightier version of himself—was addictive every time he gained something. It filled him with a sensation women couldn't compare to. At least, not the ones he'd conquered before.

Yep, I changed a lot.

In the past, connections and money were power, yet he had never cared about either. If anyone cared about power, it was his parents. Now, he did too.

Were his parents okay? What about Basti, William, and Felix? David felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't thought about his friends or family in a long time, but the fact remained—he needed more power to look for them. At least, that was what he liked to tell himself. But deep down, he knew the truth. If he had truly wanted to, he could have started searching for them already.

But why? What was stopping him?

Was he scared? Of what? Meeting his family?

David took a deep breath. Whatever.

He needed rest. Slumping to the ground, he ignored the stares and lay there, staring at the cloudless sky. Time passed in the blink of an eye, and by the time he stirred from his thoughts, night had fallen.

Then came the shriek.

David jumped to his feet, checking his Source—it was filled to the brim but still recovering from the strain.

"What is going on?" he called into the night. But before anyone could answer, he saw it.

Zachariah.

A déjà vu he would have much rather avoided.

Fuck this shit.

Charging toward the regressor’s waning life signal, he shoved several people aside, leaping over a group and running through the air, conjuring crimson shields beneath him.

At last, he reached Zachariah—who was missing an ear and an eye. Several dark marks covered his left arm—only his left arm. But it was just a husk of itself now, shriveled and skeletal, with bones poking through the skin.

David felt like shouting, Why is your arm black? But there was no time for questions.

He noticed something much worse.

"Black," he muttered, eyes widening as he channeled Blood into them.

At first, he saw nothing in Zachariah’s left arm—no life signals at all. But then he saw it.

Black life signals.

He didn't know what had happened, but he recognized the black life signals from his dream in Asmodeus' domain. And worse—it was spreading.

"Sever your arm," David muttered instinctively as the black life signals crept toward Zachariah's shoulder.

To his great shock, Zachariah didn't hesitate.

Sword Intent flashed.

A moment later, his left arm spun through the air, severed at the shoulder.

David expected that to be enough. It wasn’t.

Though the black life signals had mostly been cut away, a trace of the darkness remained in Zachariah’s upper arm. Worse still—it was spreading again.

"Don't move."

The Obsidian Blade materialized in David’s hand, shifting into its scimitar form. He poured everything into it—[Slash], [Blessing], [Holy Touch], and whispered Words of Power, empowering Rend to its fullest.

It all happened in an instant.

The soulbound weapon flashed, and the remainder of Zachariah’s upper arm flung through the air.

Zachariah didn’t even flinch. He locked eyes with David, unwavering, determination burning in his gaze.

"You got it?" he asked, blood spurting from the bloody stump that remained. "Good."

His left leg buckled, but he never broke eye contact.

"And now... try regenerating my arm. I need it."

A moment later, Zachariah collapsed, a pool of blood forming beneath him.

"Dude. I can’t regrow arms," David growled—only to freeze mid-sentence.

His Primary Class had improved significantly after tending to several thousand Cursed. Not only had he removed their suffering, but he had also healed them, earning various Skill rank-ups, several Blood droplets, and two class advancements.

Lifeweaver had reached Silver Rank.

And with it, a new Class Skill.

David stared at Zachariah.

"You brickheaded bastard."