Damned Healer-Chapter 751: Are You Willing?

All eyes were fixed on Darian's figure.

No one knew how much time had passed, but the remaining energies finally disappeared completely. Darian snorted lightly, while the flames surrounding him also faded, dissipating into the air.

"Your three attacks are already done. I didn't move, so... you lost," he murmured lightly.

With a light jump, he flew, and his two feet touched the ground outside the immense crater.

"... argh"

Vymara's body bent forward, completely pale and bluish from head to toe. Drops of cold sweat ran down her entire body. Her posture was extremely twisted, barely able to remain standing. Her fluctuations were weak and exhausted, and the pain from her internal injuries, after using a power she couldn't withstand, afflicted her heavily; but...

Her eyes were wide open, her pupils bulging and fixed on Darian, who was completely unharmed, revealing an indescribable confusion.

Vymara's figure trembled as she collapsed heavily to the ground. However, her eyes, which trembled intensely, remained fixed on Darian. She was completely incapable of believing the scene before her; the power that should have annihilated everything had not left even a single mark on her opponent.

The barrier created by the Palace Masters was removed. At that moment, Veyra ran to her side, supporting her.

Veyra's pupils trembled even more intensely than Vymara's... it seemed like they could explode at any second under the weight of that impossible reality.

"This... this... to think... I..."

Queen Myna's mouth opened and closed countless times, but no words came out. In the midst of such an enormous shock, she couldn't find the right words to describe what she had just witnessed.

It wasn't just her; all the disciples of the Golden Crow Sect were in the same situation. Even with Darian clearly standing before them, completely unharmed... none of them dared believe what they were seeing.

"..." Ruan looked at Darian, then at Gildor, and his lips moved several times, but his voice simply failed.

Even suspecting that Darian was an anomaly, this result was something no one could have predicted. Even Gildor had sent a message to Darian before this, to confirm his ability to withstand it.

Only Darian knew this was the inevitable result.

It was impossible for Vymara's spear of supreme destruction to injure him. In fact, it wouldn't have injured him even if it had been conjured by Veyra. That was because the divine technique was still in its embryonic stage, being only a pure concentration of elements. It almost had no Celestial power, so Darian simply used his domain to disperse everything.

"Her three moves are already done. Do you want me to make an attack? Or will you admit defeat?" Darian spoke, his words neither fast nor slow, cutting through the silence of the place.

Those words made Vymara's contracted pupils regain a bit of focus. She was kneeling on the ground, unable to move... it seemed she could no longer even stand up.

Slowly, she lowered her head, took a deep breath, and said with extreme difficulty: "There's no need... I accept my defeat..."

Veyra said nothing as she raised her head and slowly closed her eyes before taking a deep breath. Only many moments later did she finally exhale, feeling the weight of humiliation with some difficulty.

"Darian… is the winner!" Ruan finally declared in a loud voice.

The declaration of the Grand Supervisor of the Palaces carried an intense, flaming energy, though somewhat uncontrolled due to the shock, making the entire place, filled with disciples, awaken with a buzzing in their eardrums.

When they looked at Darian, proudly standing, and Vymara, miserably kneeling, everyone seemed to awaken from their stupor, erupting simultaneously into roars of excitement and thunderous cheers.

"He won! Senior Darian won... he's too strong!"

"No wonder the Sect Leader chose him to be his direct disciple, his vision is absolute!"

The sound of cheers echoed throughout the place for a long time. When the Sect Assembly had begun, and Darian was presented as the chosen direct disciple, everyone felt envy and jealousy. After all, they were all confused.

No one had ever shown any respect for Darian. But now, everyone stared at him fervently with burning looks of admiration.

This wasn't just Darian's victory, because due to the conflict and the bet between Gildor and Veyra, the battle had already become something that also affected the honor and relationship between the two powers.

Amid the deafening shouts, Darian began walking slowly toward Vymara.

Vymara lowered her head deeply while her body trembled incessantly. It seemed her entire being was wrapped in a dense layer of despair and depression.

Without any doubt, she was a true talent, something difficult to find in the entire universe. Moreover, she was the greatest genius in the entire history of the Bakunawa Abyssal Triarchy, not to mention the current generation.

She was proud, but not arrogantly so in an empty way. Even so, her pride ran deeper than that of anyone else. Because of that, she had used her most powerful ability... and even then, she ended up losing to someone whose cultivation level was lower than hers.

That kind of heavy blow... would probably become a shadow hovering over Vymara, a nightmare that would obstruct her cultivation path, preventing future breakthroughs... Darian knew far too well about this; people called it the Heart Demon.

"Lady Vymara." Darian stopped beside her and extended his hand. "In terms of elemental control, I might have won, but I'm far from being your match; after all, you're a candidate for divinity, and I'm just someone with some skill. As for this competition, it wasn't entirely fair to you either, since it was only a few exchanges."

Darian spoke with a calm look. He didn't want the brilliance of a true talent to dim or be extinguished because of him.

"I'm almost the same age as you, but your potential is many times greater. I can't help but feel envy and admiration. You'll now be the target I aim to reach, so keep working hard. Don't let me surpass you so quickly because of a single defeat that wasn't really fair."

Vymara raised her head and looked at Darian for a moment, her gaze gradually regaining clarity. Then she extended her trembling hand and held Darian's as she slowly stood up, feeling the warmth coming from her opponent's hand.

"I, Vymara, have never accepted defeat easily."

The atmosphere of depression and despair dissipated like morning mist as a proud smile returned to Vymara's face. She let out a confident laugh, even if it was still weak. Within that laughter, one could feel a touch of genuine gratitude.

"Even though I lost today... There will come a day when I reclaim my victory! Lord Darian, you should be careful, because I won't rest!"

In Darian's words, Vymara could feel sincerity and purity of intent. They weren't just hollow words of compassion from the winner to the loser; it was the respect of one warrior for another.

Darian gave a slight smile. "You too."

In fact, he hadn't lied when he said she was the target he aimed to reach... her cultivation was higher, and he wanted to advance and surpass that level as quickly as possible.

The Queens watched that moment. Kaltis sighed deeply. "This generation of the Golden Crow Sect has found a truly unbelievable figure."

"This young man called Darian... in the future, he will surpass Gildor. It's truly frightening to think about his potential, but also something I look forward to with great anticipation," Myna murmured.

"Neither too proud nor overly arrogant. What an incredible bearing for someone so young!" Darian's actions made Ruan and the Palace Masters' eyes shine.

Everyone nodded in agreement, their expressions showing total approval. Darian had truly brought great honor to the Golden Crow Sect this time.

All the disciples felt their blood boiling, and they would remember this clash for a long time. The Bloodline of the Primordial Beast in their veins was the same as Darian's. If they dedicated themselves, they could get closer to him. Most of them only wanted to isolate themselves and devote their body and soul to cultivation.

Gildor saw the change in everyone and nodded inwardly. The gains from this entire event would be immense in the near future.

In the past, the disciples, just like the big figures of the sect, had felt confused about Gildor for his decision to choose Darian instead of Herion, but now everyone praised him for his wise choice and felt deeply ashamed for having doubted him.

"Darian, come back," Gildor said coldly, his voice cutting through the cheers.

Darian immediately returned to his side. The icy gaze of the Sect Leader turned toward Veyra's figure, who remained motionless. "Veyra, now that the winner and the loser have been decided in front of everyone, you didn't forget what you said before, did you?"

Veyra raised her head fiercely, clenching her teeth slightly as she said harshly:

"A loss is a loss. Gildor, don't worry. The words I, Veyra, speak are irrevocable, even if the heavens collapse and the Earth splits open beneath my feet! If it's my life you want, I will die here and now without mercy, right in front of you... I even swear that the Bakunawa Abyssal Triarchy will never seek revenge for this act. Are you satisfied?!"

"Master!" Vymara exclaimed, in complete shock.

"Your life?" Gildor mocked with sovereign disdain. "While my brother Chrysos suffered from the malignant poison all these years, I indeed dreamed of taking your life in agony. But now that Chrysos has fully recovered, I no longer have the selfish intention of causing such deep damage to the Bakunawa Abyssal Triarchy. To me, your life has no value anymore. Even if you gave me your life on your knees, I wouldn't even care to take it."

Veyra was a bit stunned by the response and said solemnly, "Then what do you want from me as payment for the bet!?"

"I only want one very simple thing..." As Gildor spoke, his aura rose, intensifying the heat in the area. "I want you to accept Darian as the Celestial Honorary Disciple in your sect. That's a very ancient title that our two organizations, when they were allies, used a few times in the past; but now Darian... you understand, right?"

Gildor's words left all the disciples of the sect, and even all the Palace Masters, confused. They had never heard of this. But... among them, there was the oldest Palace Master, who remembered something he had only heard about a long time ago.

"Celestial Honorary Disciple... It's when someone from our Golden Crow Sect can enjoy everything a core disciple of the Bakunawa Abyssal Triarchy receives. The only restriction... obviously, is that he cannot receive the Bakunawa Bloodline or secret things."

That figure murmured amid the silence, and Darian managed to hear it, becoming surprised. These two organizations were ancient allies, so they created exchanges like this. But... he felt in the look of Veyra and the other Queens that there was something else hidden behind it.

The three Queens stared at Darian for a few seconds, then shifted their gaze to Vymara; then they nodded and sighed, understanding. A faint excitement shone in their eyes.

Darian instinctively felt a chill run down his spine.

Without hesitating, he looked straight into the eyes of that nearby Dragoness. Her expression froze immediately, as if she had desperately hoped before that he wouldn't ask about this.

'Err... sorry... my husband didn't know something you told me earlier...' she murmured in his mind, somewhat nervously.

'What would that be?!' Darian asked dryly.

Minril swallowed hard. 'That title... actually, it's only been given three times before, only when disciples above the genius class appeared in the Golden Crow Sect. They receive everything possible from the Bakunawa Abyssal Triarchy... because they're young and single... I won't lie, but the main intention is to make them choose a partner there.'

Darian's expression immediately turned dark.

'Holy shit... if I ever tell Niara about this, she'll definitely cause chaos and won't rest until she gets revenge. But... I also can't lie to her... I'm screwed...' Darian reflected to himself with a blank and tense look.

'Sir... you don't have to do any of that. You can just enjoy everything and never choose anyone. My husband only wants you to have all the possible resources coming from that sect.' Minril spoke nervously, thinking he was very, very angry.

Darian took a deep breath... in fact, this was wonderful, and he couldn't deny it. But he would need to find a way to hide that detail in the future.

At that moment, the Three Queens exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Veyra stood up and spoke seriously. "The Sect Leader is wise and knows when not to go beyond what's necessary. We're more than happy to accept you. But..."

Gildor snorted. "About the Demonic Sea Orc, I'll help you with that. After all, that will also benefit my disciple both directly and indirectly."

The Three Queens' eyes shone like stars. That had been their main goal in coming to this sect. Who could have imagined that the disaster this turned into... would end up becoming a blessing a thousand times greater.

The three of them looked at Darian again, then smiled faintly. Darian felt every hair on his body stand on end... sensing the hidden intentions of those three Queens.

But... now that he had mounted the tiger, there was no way to get off.

His master would defeat the Sea Orc and free the so-called Abyss Lake. That place was just as good as the Golden Celestial Lake, and he would be able to enjoy it as if he were someone from that place. Darian needed to cultivate quickly, so he couldn't back down.

"Darian, take this." Veyra waved her hand, and a blue-and-black emblem appeared and floated toward him. "With this, you can enter any of the three realms as if you were a core disciple. Please come visit us, we'll be waiting for you eagerly."

Darian took the emblem with a slightly trembling hand, then nodded lightly.

"In three months, the seal will be released. Since we've settled everything, we don't want to trouble the Great Sect Leader any further. Thank you very much for hearing us... We're leaving." Myna spoke hurriedly, dragging the other five away as quickly as possible.

Gildor and no one from the sect tried to stop them. In less than a minute, all six 'guests' disappeared from the planet completely.

Darian snorted, then turned to Gildor with a serious look.

The Sect Leader took a deep breath, then spoke loudly to everyone: "There's no reason to drag this out. The ceremony is officially concluded."

Everyone in the sect nodded excitedly, smiles on their faces. This simple ceremony announcing the direct disciple had ended up awakening immense pride and excitement for the future within them.

Everyone began leaving calmly, dispersing throughout the sect. At that moment, Darian fixed his gaze on Gildor and spoke mentally.

'Since you used me as a springboard to get the people in your sect fired up and start cultivating... You owe me one now, right?'

Darian had promised to pretend to be his disciple, but he never said he would agree to put on shows or performances for the public like this. He had made it clear the whole time that he didn't want to be disturbed. But this time he had gained a lot, so it wouldn't be fair for him to demand that now...

Even so, Gildor accepted that debt and nodded to him.

Darian smiled. 'Good. I need to go through my tribulation and advance to the next realm. I don't want to wait much longer.'

'Don't worry, we have a good place in the sect where everyone can try to pass their tribulation with some extra safety...'

'I don't want that,' Darian cut him off with a calm look. 'Let's just say... my tribulation isn't as simple as you think. Not that it's a problem, like every great danger, there's a great opportunity. I won't miss that chance, and I want to get the maximum profit possible.'

Darian paused and looked him in the eyes. 'I'm willing to give one-third of everything to the sect in exchange for a little help. But... you'll have to trust me. Are you willing?'