Am I a Healer? You'd Better Think So!-Chapter 12: Lack Of Power

The entire Celestia Academy was in turmoil, a sea of people rushing in from all directions. Every Summoner had received the alert, and those who could come arrived immediately. They gathered in the academy's outer courtyard. An hour later, millions were already waiting.

When the flow finally stopped, a figure covered in reddish fur appeared in the sky. He was riding a bluish-winged creature, resembling a majestic ice eagle.

Everyone below watched as he landed on a high platform. This was a well-known and widely respected Summoner named Ceug. He and his Spiritual Guardian were famous as the "Impenetrable Ice Shield."

His partner's blessing was a support-type ability, specialized in creating ice barriers. The two of them could fight alone in the middle of enemy lines for long periods; even when they ran out of energy, they could still retreat unharmed.

But... that man was missing an arm, and his entire body was covered in deep wounds, exuding a faint purple aura. Most of the wounds were partially closed, but some were still wide open.

For an ordinary person, being wounded by a Risen meant the end—either instant death or transformation into one of them. But for a Summoner, it was like a curse that refused to heal.

If the wound was left as it was, it turned into a poison that rooted itself in the body and spread until it was impossible to recover—only death remained. In battle, retreating and healing depended purely on luck.

Since there were no real healers to help, the only way to recover was by stacking high-grade pills, but healing was painfully slow.

That's why almost all supports focused on barriers and protection, spending a fortune on external tools to escape in emergencies. Meanwhile, fighters and mages only attacked when they were sure they wouldn't be surrounded and could finish the battle quickly.

Tanks and mystics were the rarest among Spiritual Guardians—they had to fight while protecting their Summoner, and one unexpected situation could be the end of the line.

Everyone who knew Ceug tensed up at the sight of his injuries.

What the hell could've wounded him like this? A powerful Risen was easy to detect while moving—there was no way he got caught off guard.

Ceug scanned the crowd as if he didn't have a second to waste. His gaze seemed to search for the strongest Summoners, but upon realizing the reality, he exhaled sharply, frustrated.

"Shit... we only have ten thousand with three rings available."

Then, he turned around to face the same dark-scaled woman who had received Niara earlier. She was someone important within Celestia Academy.

"When will the next wave of Spiritual Guardians arrive?"

"In five days. A group from planet Cindor. Possibly, some with five or six rings." She responded quickly.

"Fuck... we can't wait." Ceug growled, clenching his only fist.

"I'm the only one with a six-ringed Spiritual Guardian available. I have to go back and fight. I need to use the Celestial Diagram to heal, so get everyone ready—we leave in six hours. I'll be in charge."

The woman nodded, visibly tense. Everyone in the crowd heard him, and some turned pale. He was the only Summoner at that level?

The sharpest ones quickly put the pieces together. There should always be at least a dozen six-ringed Summoners in this universe—sometimes even two or three stronger than that. Given Ceug's condition, it meant powerful Risen had attacked simultaneously in multiple locations across the galaxy, attempting to invade.

That had forced the other Summoners to stay put, holding them back in different battlefronts.

Reinforcements wouldn't arrive in time. This meant the weaker ones would have to take responsibility—and sacrifice their numbers to make up for the lack of power.

Even worse... under the enforced rules, if something this big happened and the orders were given, no Summoner could flee. They could only fight and hope to make it out alive.

Ceug turned to the crowd:

"I'll be blunt. This will be a great opportunity for some of you—but a disaster for most."

"An Abyss Nest has appeared in the northeastern part of the galaxy. We need to destroy it immediately before it's too late. Get everything ready in six hours—we're leaving. Don't hold back on resources, or you won't have the chance to regret it."

The dreaded order had been given. Now, everyone was going to fight until the end.

As soon as Ceug finished speaking, he turned and left. The crowd erupted into movement, rushing toward the commerce district to buy as many supplies as possible.

Niara and Darian stood in the middle of the crowd, unmoving. Then, she explained to him mentally:

'The Abyss Nest is a rare event that happens once every thousand years. It's a region where the miasma distorts the laws of space, creating a passage to another place in the universe. At first, the passage is unstable, allowing only low-level Risen to cross. But every hour, it solidifies, letting stronger creatures in. In three days, Risen capable of killing a six-ringed Spiritual Guardian will start coming through in large numbers.'

She clenched her fists, and a wild light flickered in her eyes.

'The only solution is to invade the channel. Inside, there's something like a bridge full of enemies guarding it. They all have to be wiped out so we can destroy both the bridge and the channel. There's a limit to how many enemies can be on the bridge at once, but... this isn't a battle that can be won. After all, the entire universe is swarming with Risen. The Summoners have to take advantage of the fact that the enemy numbers won't increase and push them back to the other side with everything they've got in one go. Their numbers are infinite and will always be replenished, while our side has a very clear limit.'

'In the past, half of the galaxies in the universe were taken over because an Abyss Nest appeared and they failed to destroy it in time. Everything has to be done precisely and all at once, without wasting any strength. That's why, even if everyone dies, if they manage to destroy the Nest, it's a victory.'

Darian understood. There were more powerful Risen than Spiritual Guardians—that was an unchangeable fact.

Right now, around the last surviving galaxy in the universe, there was a hidden force keeping those creatures from swarming in large numbers.

The weaker ones could attack almost freely. But those stronger than a three-ringed Spiritual Guardian could only attack at certain times, coming from different locations in small numbers. If the Nest solidified the channel, though, everything would change.

Darian got the logic. Creating this Nest had to be extremely costly, so the enemies always worked together when making one.

The Risen he fought in the test were completely mindless, but some of their leaders showed a degree of intelligence. That meant the stronger a Risen was, the smarter it became.

The powerful Spiritual Guardians were always positioned around the galaxy, protecting it from the invasion of the few strongest Risen that managed to break through from time to time. In the current situation, if all of them gathered in one place to destroy the Nest, those few Risen would have a clear path to invade the galaxy from other directions.

They were like a sinister virus—once inside, they would multiply using the people of the galaxy, becoming impossible to stop.

Niara finished her explanation and waited for Darian's response on what they should do. However, in her excitement, she noticed too late that something was wrong with him.

Turning toward his shoulder, she saw that colorful slug tense.

'What's wrong?' she asked, confused by his distress.

'That man, Ceug... he's not telling the truth... if we... no, everyone is going to die.'

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