Damned Healer-Chapter 97: Flashy Way

The giant golem shook his head. "I'll only be free once someone defeats me. If I break my promise, it's the same as breaking my oath. That would be a disgrace to the Golem God — so I won't do something like that."

Everyone behind him sighed. No matter what Darian said, the golem refused to leave the place. Through his explanation, Darian found out the deal was to help that Herald just once.

It was kind of ridiculous... the golem was way too naive and said it had been a bet, but it was obvious to everyone: that Herald had found the golem sleeping underground, then somehow built the underground temple around him without even waking him up.

When he finally woke him, the guy accused the golem of intruding without permission — and even of damaging part of the temple. To make up for it, the golem swore to fulfill his demand.

All golems lived their lives sleeping and barely interacted with anyone. They were born from the earth, with no father, no mother, no one to guide them. Completely innocent, without the slightest bit of malice... but they were never truly alone or abandoned.

According to him, all of his kind are blessed by the Golem God. No one can mistreat them without facing harsh consequences. That's why they live in peace, with no fear of anything.

For him, sleeping there wasn't a bad thing — he'd be doing it somewhere else anyway. The only difference was that he couldn't leave until he fulfilled what he'd promised.

Darian spoke frankly, looking the golem in the eyes. "Alright, then how about this? Since a regular fight is off the table, let's do a fair contest."

"Sounds good. If you can find a fair way to compete, that'd be the best," the golem replied.

"Let's do this, then. Your kind specializes in the earth element, right? Turns out I'm kinda decent at it too. Let's compete for control over the element. That okay with you?" Darian asked.

"Of course! If you're confident, that sounds perfect. It's been ages since I've been out of this place. I do enjoy sleeping, but seeing new things is fun sometimes. Once I repay you, I'll finally be free," said the giant golem.

Darian smiled slightly. If he won, not only would they be allowed to go forward, he'd also earn a favor from the golem. That last part was the real prize. "Helping you helps me too. Let's give it a try."

He took a step forward, took a deep breath, and a fierce red aura burst out around him. His red eyes lit up — the full power of the Seven Elemental Star Physique was activated.

The golem moved, stretching out his hand and closing his eyes in concentration. His body pulsed, and countless runes across his body lit up.

The cavern shook. All the surrounding earth began to stir. Dozens of tiny glowing runes started rising from the ground and floating around the golem.

Everyone in the back forgot to breathe — their hearts pounded wildly. Those glowing runes were the earth element from the planet itself... but the runes on the giant's body? That was earth at its highest level. The pressure rolling off him was downright terrifying.

Then, all of a sudden...

Darian waved his hand.

"!"

Everyone watching widened their eyes. Even the golem opened his in shock.

The little runes he had summoned drifted toward Darian — slipping out of his control. It was like they had found a new master... one far more impressive.

He was an earth golem — born from the earth, lived in it, and everything about him came from it. There shouldn't have been anything better than him at controlling that element. He was so innocent, he didn't even realize how unfair this match still was for a human.

"Let's do it like this," Darian said calmly. "We'll take one minute — both of us will try to control and gather the most powerful earth element we can. That way, there's no doubt who wins."

The giant golem nodded. Then he let out a huff and closed his eyes.

Every rune on his body lit up like stars.

*RUMBLE!*

The whole cavern felt like it was about to cave in.

The golem was going all in — 100%!

Everyone behind them felt a wave of panic. That idiot had no sense of control — he was going to kill them all before anyone could even win.

"Darian, stop him!" Harper shouted, tense. This match wasn't just impossible — it was a death sentence.

But...

Darian turned to look at her... and gave a small, calm smile.

To her, it looked like the smile of a maniac with zero limits.

He closed his eyes.

Five seconds passed. Huge rocks started falling from the ceiling, and everyone behind him broke into cold sweat. The place was going to collapse in just a few more seconds.

Around the giant golem...

"!"

Only now did everyone finally notice something strange — and they nearly jumped out of their skin.

The glowing runes covering his body... were dimming, little by little.

Another five seconds.

Suddenly, all the rumbling stopped.

Darian opened his eyes.

The golem opened his too.

The two stared at each other in silence.

'Still resisting?' Darian smiled and waved his hand.

**BOOM!**

The moment he waved, the giant golem was blasted into the air like a cannonball.

He crashed into the stone wall of the battle ring — everything shook and cracked apart. Then... the ceiling started collapsing!

Darian's face changed — he hadn't expected that kind of reaction. He had only controlled the strongest nearby earth laws... which happened to be the runes on the golem's own body. They were pretty similar to the ones used in the array, so it was easy for him.

Taking control of those made the golem instinctively fight back. His inner energy tried to pull the runes back — resisting. Obviously, Darian didn't want to hurt the guy by ripping them from him, so he let go. That was like letting go of a stretched rubber band — it snapped back and launched the golem.

"Not good!" With a ceiling that massive falling, they were all gonna get crushed.

Suddenly, the giant golem opened his eyes. He let out a shout and slammed both hands on the ground. Half a dozen massive pillars shot up and held the ceiling in place.

Everyone behind him went pale. They didn't even have time to activate a single artifact — they just stood there, stunned.

Darian let out a relieved sigh.

"You've won," the giant golem said, looking Darian's way. "Since I saved your friends, I've completed my last task — now I'm free. Thank you very much."

Darian heard that, and his face twisted. "Y-yeah... you're free..."

When Harper told him to stop, he thought it'd be cool to win in a flashy way. He already knew he could easily take control of the golem's body — this wasn't even a real competition. So... he lost the golem's favor just for being a dumbass.