The Lone Healer-Chapter 209: The Healer’s Light, Part Sixteen

Level 74

MP: 1300/1300 (+300)

EXP: 280/740

AP: 3690

IP: 90

WST: 91400

---

Endurance: 60

Speed: 50

Precision: 49

Strength: 10

Arcane: 100

Just as Neve’s mana was fully replenished, the healer put her phone away.

The last thing she saw from her screen before she turned it off, was Charlotte going:

"You’re doing great! Keep it up!"

[So far, so good, I guess.]

It was far from over, though, as even from all the way here, Neve could see their next opponents waiting up ahead. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Shall we?" Erin asked as she noticed Neve putting her phone away.

"Mhm," the healer hummed out in response. "Let’s go."

The trio then walked forward. Those statues they saw at the entrance were replicated on the way to the next battle. Each one displayed angels with different weapons, some of them giant and strong, others thin, short, and elegant. However, as Neve went deeper into the building, a change occurred.

All of the statues began to be made in Aphria’s image.

Each one depicted the angel in different situations. Taking on multiple enemies at once, fighting off a monster pulled straight from a child’s nightmares, or taking on a mindless knight, but what they all had in common was that Aphria appeared to be winning in every image.

Neve wasn’t sure what to make of all of this.

Eventually, she reached the next battle.

This time, the number of opponents matched that of their group.

One archer, already in the air, flying, a mage, and another angel that seemed to enjoy dual-wielding spears.

Level 75

MP: 350/350

Level 75

MP: 800/800

Level 75

MP: 350/350

As she scanned them, Neve noticed something.

[All of them are the same level? That’s pretty rare...]

Selene flapped her wings, lifting herself off the ground and taking aim at the other archer. Neve cast her usual setup abilities on Erin, whose eyes were already locking with the spear-user.

MP: 1175/1300

The instant Neve’s abilities were on her, Erin charged at her opponent, leaving Neve to contend with the mage.

Due to what had happened during the last fight, Neve’s senses were on high alert the instant she began to confront this sorcerer.

She was ready, now.

So much so that the instant the man began to move his hands, Neve was already running to the right.

She saw that {Silence} rune appear out of the corner of her eye, but given that Erin was still out on the field, it seemed she avoided it in time.

Before the mage could cast it again, Neve cast a few {Fireballs} at him herself. He switched spells, creating a barrier in front of himself instead that blocked the incoming abilities.

[Damn, the barrier didn’t even crack... If all of these fighters have their Blade, Lance, and other skills at 100, then this guy’s Utility Magic skill is probably at 100 too, right?]

Given how strong Neve’s {Fireball} was, though, the healer decided all this meant was that it would take a few more casts than normal to take that shield down.

So, she kept going.

MP: 1145/1300

MP: 1135/1300

MP: 1125/1300

One by one, the spheres of flames that she conjured shot out from her staff and crashed into that magical shield.

With one hand, the mage kept that barrier up. With the other, he created another {Silence} rune under Neve’s feet. The healer had already been moving before the rune had even appeared, however.

Eventually, the magical shield splintered.

MP: 1095/1300

MP: 1085/1300

Finally, with one more cast that brought her mana down to 1075, her next {Fireball} went straight through the man’s barrier, setting him ablaze.

Neve had to keep going, however. Due to the fact that her spell dealt a fixed amount of max HP damage, it didn’t matter whether her opponent had 10 endurance or 90. Her spell did the same amount of damage, and this was one rare instance in which that was a bad thing, as it meant Neve had to invest another 40 mana, bringing her total down to 1035, to finish the opponent off.

She did manage to do so, however.

EXP Gained: 300

EXP: 580/740

WST Gained: 1000

WST: 98500

Breathing a quick sigh of relief, Neve turned to see how the rest of the fight was going.

To her right, Selene and the archer she was taking on were in a stalemate of sorts. The pattern, as far as Neve could tell from just this glance, was that one of them would launch an arrow at the other, only for the one on the receiving end to launch an arrow of her own that exploded into a barrier. Then, the one who just did that would fire at the opponent, and the opponent would do the same.

To Neve’s left, Erin was finishing off her enemy just as Neve turned her head toward her.

Neve only caught the final exchange, so it wasn’t clear how she arrived at this moment, but Erin had been in the middle of using {Rorvan’s Flurry}. She missed rather quickly, as the opponent backed off, which stopped the Technique, but Erin instantly transitioned into using {Dragon’s Divine Breath}, which coated the angel in flames.

Then, using the fire she’d just created to conceal herself, Erin went behind the enemy and ran a claw through his neck, separating his head from his body.

EXP Gained: 300

EXP: 780/740

Level Up!

WST Gained: 1000

WST: 99500

With that enemy defeated, both girls turned their attention to Selene’s fight and moved to assist her.

Just as the last angel was firing a shot at Selene, Erin lifted her body up into the air and grabbed the angel by her foot.

Taking hold of her, she brought her down and slammed her into the ground. Neve heard a sickening crack as the angel’s head hit the floor before Erin dug into the angel’s back with her claws.

EXP Gained: 300

EXP: 1080/740

Level Up!

WST Gained: 1000

WST: 100500

With that done, this skirmish was over.

"Did the mage use that {Silence} ability?" Erin asked as she wiped some blood off her golden corset.

"Yeah, but I avoided it," Neve replied, as she crouched by this last angel’s body to look for anything useful. As usual, she didn’t find anything she could use.

"Good! If you keep it up, perhaps we’ll end this before our dear Selene becomes a pin cushion."

Neve raised a brow, turning to see what Erin was talking about.

[Oh, shit.]

Selene had three arrows sticking out of her. One in her left shoulder, one in her right thigh, and another in her abdomen.

[Uh...]

Selene’s heart eyes locked with Neve’s, almost like she was daring Neve to say something.

Instead, Neve brought out her phone.

In her stream’s chat, she typed:

"I can’t heal her. How do I help?"

---

Level 75

MP: 1300/1300 (+300)

EXP: 340/750

AP: 3690

IP: 90

WST: 100500

---

Endurance: 60

Speed: 52

Precision: 50

Strength: 10

Arcane: 100

A while later, Selene, who was wrapped in bandages that Neve had bought from the World Shop, was standing next to the three golden arrowheads that had been extracted from her body.

"Done," Neve said. "That... wasn’t so bad, right?"

If Selene had felt any pain during the process, she hadn’t made it known at all, as she remained silent throughout all of this.

Neve looked ahead at the path they were meant to take.

It led to a dead end. Strangely enough, as massive as this building was, there were no branching paths to take.

[The map is showing a path behind this wall... Maybe we need Aphria to come and reveal it?]

"Let’s get Aphria in here," Neve said.

The trio went outside, then.

Aphria, who had still been standing in the same spot she’d been in when Neve entered the building, looked over at them with curiosity as they walked out.

Her narrowed eyes briefly fell on Selene, who showed no reaction to Aphria’s presence.

"What happened?" Aphria asked.

"We, uh, ran into a dead end. I was wondering-"

As though she instantly knew what Neve was talking about, Aphria walked right into the building before Neve could finish her question.

[Okay then.]

She followed behind Aphria, prompting Erin and Selene to follow her, and the group went back to that spot on the map.

Neve noticed how Aphria’s eyes briefly fell on the statues by the entrance and the corpses of the angels Neve, Erin, and Selene had killed. The simmering annoyance on Aphria’s face gave way to a look of greatly repressed sadness, and the woman started walking even faster.

Eventually, she reached that wall.

Aphria raised a hand in its direction. It glowed a bright gold, and Neve watched as the wall began to fade away like a screen of dust.

"This was just an illusion our mages made in case the monsters ever made it this far," Aphria stated. "They never did, and yet-"

"Aphria..."

A voice croaked out from a tight throat nearby.

Everyone stopped.

Aphria froze, her hand still raised.

It was the mage Neve had brought down. Charred and seared as his body was, the man still said:

"Save us."

Aphria’s eyes landed on him. Instantly, they watered up.

"We’ll be fine..." Another voice said softly. The disembodied head from the angel Erin decapitated spoke a few steps in the other direction. "Aphria can’t lose."

Neve watched as tears rolled down Aphria’s cheeks.

"The way is clear," she said, her voice trembling. "You should be near the end soon."