Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 41B1 - Horde II

He dashed forward, facing his first enemy head-on.

The Darkai wore hideous grimaces, their disfigured faces giving them a dull, brutish look. David doubted they were intelligent, but he wouldn’t underestimate them. If anything, he would take the Darkai more seriously than the Fangs.

At least the Fangs resembled wolves, making it easier for David to gauge their speed, agility, and durability. But these demonic creatures were unknown territory—a blank sheet.

That might have been for the best. David didn’t freeze in shock when the closest Darkai’s maw opened wide, releasing a searing hot ball of fire. The black fireball whizzed through the air and would have struck David in the chest if he hadn’t reacted in time. He twisted his body, narrowly sidestepping the worst of the impact. An explosion resounded behind him, but he pressed forward.

He appeared before the Darkai, coated his blade in [Holy Touch], and slashed. Black blood spurted through the air.

David cursed as the Darkai’s severed claw hit the ground with a thud. The creature was agile but only slightly faster than him. Nonetheless, he was certain the demon could have evaded the attack in time.

Instead, it sacrificed its claw to block the incoming attack. It screeched in pain and pushed closer, already swinging an arm at him.

David frowned but activated [Shield of Faith]. A small semi-translucent golden shield formed before David, blocking the incoming attack. The shield didn’t break. It rippled and lost some of its golden luster, but [Shield of Faith] didn’t crumble after the first attack. The golden shield only crumbled when David’s focus faltered.

His feet dug into the ground, propelling him through the golden shield as it dispersed. A black blade formed in his hand, and David slashed out like he’d been wielding the Obsidian Blade for decades. The black blade slit the Darkai’s throat cleanly and disappeared after consuming a few droplets of black blood.

David kicked the Darkai in the stomach just as a dark fireball formed in its maw. He raised his blade to strike, but the cut in its throat tore open, and the fireball exploded. The creature slumped to the ground and never moved again.

[You have defeated Darkai(Iron VIII).]

The Fangs’ kill notification looked different. This looks like the Kobold’s notification.

The Darkai weren’t labeled as [Common] or [Uncommon] like the Fangs and Infected. They were different. Why?

David wanted to know more, but the explosions all over the battlefield pulled him back to reality. Now was not the time to start experimenting. A few arrows hurtled past him. Some must have struck a Darkai or two as their pained screams rang out.

However, David pulled back and got back into position. His heart was racing, beckoning him to fight, to drench his body in wounds and warm blood, but there was no way he could deal with the Horde alone.

He could hardly count how many Darkai charged at them. There had to be hundreds: maybe even a thousand.

David’s eyes drifted to the others. He used [Oasis of Harmony] on Melach and a few other Mages who were too close to the frontlines and activated [Bless] several times in a row to apply its instances on himself and two dozen Warriors. He found some Warriors wielding daggers and light armor and used [Oasis of Harmony] on them as well.

The heavy-armored Warriors would hate him for that, but everyone would be happy if one of the light-armored Warriors could kill a few more demons by being off their radar.

[Oasis of Harmony] didn’t last long. It was a low-ranked Skill Rune that hadn’t been leveled much. Still, David liked it. A white, almost pristine, Dove the size of a flying mouse hovered over the targets’ heads. It looked nice and leveled up decently fast as the Darkai near the Skill’s targets ignored them.

[Proficiency of Oasis of Harmony reached 100%]

[Tier-0 II] → [Tier-0 III]

His status appeared suddenly, taking up David’s view for a moment.

Name: David Stears

Class: Cleric

Rank: Iron IX

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Body:Middle(+)(Basic)

Mind: Middle(Basic)

Soul: Middle(-)(Basic)

[Skill Runes]

[Cure Wounds]: [Tier-0 IX]

[Cleanse]: [Tier-0 V]

[Holy Touch]: [Tier-1 VI]

[Bless]: [Tier-0 V]

[Shield of Faith]: [Tier-0 IV]

[Oasis of Harmony]: [Tier-0 III]

Attribute Points: 0

Don’t pop up if I don’t call for you!

He closed the status sheet in a hurry and not too early. A pair of Darkai rushed toward him. They simultaneously released fireballs. The distance between the fireballs wasn’t big, but it was enough to make a dive to safety impossible.

David’s mind rattled, considering using [Shield of Faith] to block the fireballs. He cursed and responded instinctively. [Holy Touch] coated the warrior longsword as it flashed through the air. It left behind a pristine trail as it cut through the fireballs. They exploded and threatened to burn David’s hand. However, instead of panicking, he used [Cure Wounds] preemptively. The Skill Rune’s healing reached his hands when the black flames spread everywhere.

He returned to peak condition and healed as the injury came into existence.

The Darkai pair lunged through the explosion, catching David off-guard. He barely raised [Shield of Faith] in time to block one attacker. The Darkai to his left crashed into the shield as it appeared, while the other Darkai’s claws slashed across his chest. This time the attack connected.

David instinctively used [Cure Wounds] and pushed forward, his strength amplified by [Bless]. [Shield of Faith] dispersed, but David didn’t pause. He drove the warrior's longsword deep into the Darkai’s chest as it clawed him again. His muscles bulged while blood oozed from his chest in bursts, but the Darkai to his right was dead. Its crippled wings flapped once or twice before it collapsed to the ground.

The Darkai to his left barely gave David time to react. Thanks to [Bless], he was a little faster than the average Darkai, or at least it felt so, but their fireballs were still faster. A dark fireball impacted heavily and burned his shoulder before it exploded. Searing pain hit him heavily as he was hurled back. The explosion was more painful than he expected. His skin was gone, and the flesh covering his bones was charred black. It was agonizing.

One [Cure Wounds] wasn’t enough; his shoulder throbbed, barely mending even after he forced the Skill Rune to overclock. Still, it showed David that he was still alive.

Pained screams echoed around him, and he fought the urge to help. He would hardly be of help with a Darkai still coming after him.

Damn it!

The Darkai pounced on him, clawing David with one arm while pinning him to the ground with the other. A fireball was already charging in its maw at the same time. It was trying to blow David’s head apart.

He groaned and conjured the Obsidian Blade when another claw mark had been engraved on his chest. Each strike hurt like hell, but the Darkai held back from delivering a killing blow.

It could have pierced his heart with its razor-sharp claws, yet it felt like the demon wasn’t even thinking about doing something like that. The Darkai was certainly thirsting for blood; its dark, hollow eyes glinted with a twisted bliss and excitement.

Its savoring this—the hunt, the torture.

David shuddered at the thought, but he jumped into action nonetheless. The realization was even more reason to eradicate the Demon Horde before they could do anything worse.

The Darkai raised its claws again to strike him when David’s arm shot upward. The Obsidian Blade manifested out of nowhere, leaving no chance of escape. The blade pierced the demon’s heart, or where David presumed to be its heart, and twisted in the Darkai’s chest. Blood ought to spurt from the wound, but the Obsidian Blade absorbed it all.

[You have defeated Darkai(IX).]

[You have defeated Darkai(VI).]

David kicked the dead Darkai aside and cast [Cure Wounds] again. He circulated [Holy Touch] through his body and used [Oasis of Harmony] on himself for a moment. The Darkai charging at him turned to the side and aimed at other combatants instead.

At least, that works.

David sprang to his feet, holy power crackling around him.

He barely defeated three Darkai and helped a few more fighters with [Bless] and [Oasis of Harmony], yet his Holy Sea was already down to two-thirds.

This is not going to be easy.

He looked up and around, scanning the surroundings as he approached the warrior longsword.

The battle against the Horde was never supposed to be easy, but this was beyond everyone’s expectations.

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Not even David expected the fight to be this deadly.

He didn’t even have to look far to see a dozen corpses. Eight were Darkai, but the rest belonged to Protectors. The numbers didn’t add up. The protectors died too quickly and didn’t kill enough enemies.