Damned Healer-Chapter 102: Isn’t Really A Problem

Everyone was completely speechless. Was he a total maniac? How had they never noticed before?

After five seconds of weird silence, Darian looked up and muttered:

"Hmm... I don't think we've got much time left."

Everyone turned their eyes to the dirt ceiling. They were underground, so they couldn't see the sky, but once the ring's power was activated, they felt the change on the surface. That sinister force from this universe was already closing in on the planet. Maybe in ten minutes, everything would be covered.

"What happened? How did you..." Leander reacted quickly, stepping closer and asking.

"I'm not really sure. Raon came at me, so I fought back. He couldn't kill me without his blessing active, so he used this weird artifact..." Darian said, showing the clan's core. "Right when he activated it, I felt the ground shake and a violet cloud swallowed him. Then he went all weird, like he was being tortured... and then he exploded."

Everyone's eyes widened. He just exploded?

Gregor tensed up. "This is serious. But first, we need to deal with the situation."

Darian nodded and handed over everything Raon had. Gregor was the leader and way better at using artifacts than he was.

Gregor smiled, clearly grateful. Despite everything that had happened, and the fact that Darian had done pretty much everything on his own, he wasn't acting cocky or like he was better than anyone. Even now, he wasn't questioning Gregor's leadership.

Without delay, Gregor grabbed the artifact that controlled this place and focused.

Suddenly, they all turned to the right. They saw a ten-meter invisible box, holding four people inside.

The four of them noticed the change right away, eyes wide. But it was too late. They were trapped and sealed, just like the others had been earlier.

The woman tried to deactivate her blessing, but since it was just them in a small area, the artifact alone could keep them locked up.

"Don't kill them yet," Darian said lightly, and Gregor turned to him.

"Use that artifact core on them. I heard it charges up when you do that. You can pull it off, right?"

"Yeah, but that'll attract a lot of attention. And this is the worst time — that sinister power will be here in just a few minutes," Gregor explained calmly.

"Makes sense..." Darian said, picking up a stone and squeezing it.

A voice came from the stone: "I can seal the area with my power... but I'll get really weak and will need to sleep to recover."

Everyone heard it. Darian nodded and turned to Gregor. "Once we enter the treasure chamber in this temple, our target will probably know and react. After all, he sealed this place himself and clearly didn't want anyone going in."

Everyone agreed. That violet power that had covered the temple earlier could only have come from the Primitive Beast. Whatever the Herald had left behind back then was definitely valuable — maybe even something that couldn't be moved, otherwise it made no sense to seal it like that.

"We can't waste a card like that core. The Empire won't complain if we kill those four bastards and make sure this mission's a success. We might even lure the target here and kill him by surprise," Darian continued calmly, trying to convince the mission leader.

Gregor took a deep breath, thinking it through. There was a chance the core of this universe's power was in the treasure room. That would be ideal — they'd destroy it and face the target weakened. But... it could be something else, forcing them into a head-on fight with just their own trump cards.

Even in the worst-case scenario, having the element of surprise and the power of the supreme artifact gave them a huge edge.

The power gap between them and the target wasn't massive. The problem was that the enemy was a mutant — unpredictable, with tons of hidden tricks. The smartest move would be to gather info, wait for the right moment — preferably when the Diabolic Shroud wasn't covering everything — and strike hard and fast.

"The longer we wait, the worse it gets for us," Darian said slowly. "Right now, we've got full strength and a bunch of unused artifacts. Raon had a ton, I've got some, and Leander probably has his own weird stuff too. This is the best moment; we just need to toss the bait and trap that beast. If it puts up a fight, we just beat it down 'til it breaks..."

Everyone went quiet, staring at Darian. A faint, wicked smile appeared on his face as he laid out the plan.

Their eyes widened! He was definitely insane — someone who lived to cause chaos! Now they were sure of it.

But strangely... none of them felt afraid or wanted to run. There was a strange feeling of safety coming from him. Like somehow, causing chaos was also a way to keep things in balance.

In the next moment, the whole area was suddenly covered in thick violet mist. They were underground, but the Diabolic Shroud covered the entire planet — every possible place.

It had finally arrived, fully. As they breathed in, they all felt something seeping into their bodies, making them heavier...

This power — the Diabolic Shroud — acted like poison to High Humans, slowly weakening them. The mission group was supposed to have 15 people. With that number, even weakened for days, they could still take down the target. But now, with just 10 of them, things got a whole lot harder.

Until a wave of warmth ran through everyone's bodies.

They turned to Darian and saw him nod as particles of light radiated from him, flowing through all of them.

"Forgot to mention—this poison isn't really a problem for me. I've got purification abilities," he said calmly, leaving the whole group wide-eyed.

"You won't lose strength to this—at least not for now. And also... I've got a feeling I'll still be useful purifying the power coming from our target in an emergency. It won't be that risky. We've got a lot of strategic advantages. If we go all in, we can wrap this mission up fast. Honestly, in terms of odds, this plan's looking like our safest bet."

After that bit of news, everyone suddenly saw a clear, straight path to victory. Their eyes locked on Darian, full of disbelief.

If Darian could purify this power—and Gregor had that blessing that could seal the enemy's strength—what exactly did the target even have left to fight back with?

"But my power has limits. I can only keep you all at 100% for about two hours. If we don't attack now and just wait for the power covering the planet to fade, we'll all get weaker—and that could be fatal. So yeah, my plan is to fight now," Darian added.

He wasn't lying. That white power had limits, and Darian couldn't just refill it whenever he wanted.

Gregor took a few seconds to think. Drawing the target into this place now meant they'd fight with a big strategic edge. If they waited, sure, the target would be weaker—but so would they.

The difference was... who could say for sure that even weakened—and short five people—they'd still be able to win? And how likely was it that they'd get another favorable setting once they left the temple? If they didn't bring the target here, maybe he'd find them later—and come way more prepared.

They could wait a day for the Diabolic Shroud to fade and try to bait him then. But who's to say the enemy would take that bait while weakened? He could just wait a few hours and hunt them down at full strength.

Going all in now—with the supreme artifact, all their other tools, their blessings, and their battle experience—was hands down the best move.