Damned Healer-Chapter 98: Finishing Move

After swallowing his frustration, Darian was stunned. He noticed the giant golem's entire body was covered in cracks, like he could shatter at any second.

"Are you okay?!" Darian asked quickly.

The golem's life force was fading, and even the high-level earth runes across his body were breaking apart. Darian had only taken control for a brief moment, but he hadn't expected the damage to be this bad.

Of course, he was human — he had no idea how a golem's body actually worked. Without meaning to, he'd ended up hurting him badly.

"I'm... fine... I kept... my promise..." the golem muttered, his voice growing weaker.

Darian rushed over, panicked. His body lit up with a white glow, and he immediately channeled it into the golem.

Within seconds, the runes on that huge body came to life, flowing across him and healing the cracks. It was like a dry sponge soaking up water.

In just a minute, the golem was completely recovered. Seeing that, Darian let out a big sigh of relief.

"Bro... damn, now I owe you again," the golem said as he got back up.

Darian scoffed, "No, this one's on me. I don't want to trick you or take advantage of you. You're free now."

"What? I pay my debts. I can't let the Golem God down," the giant replied seriously.

Darian waved for everyone behind him to come closer, then turned to the golem. "I'm leaving this universe soon. I'm just here for a mission. Beating you and finding whatever that Herald hid — those are the only things that matter."

Hearing that, the golem went quiet for a few seconds, thinking. Then something seemed to click, and he spoke up quickly:

"I... I know this place inside-out. When I used to wake up and get bored, I'd use my power to observe everything around me — a huge area. I can help with that."

Darian's eyes lit up. He remembered something important: high-level earth laws could sense everything through the land and even communicate across long distances. This golem probably knew every inch of this place.

"If you keep going, past the battle ring, you'll find the treasure. But there's a hidden door on the left. That's the central chamber of the temple, the Herald's private room. No one was supposed to go there. I don't know if there's anything valuable inside, but maybe he left something." The golem said, clearly trying to help.

"Hm..." Darian brought a hand to his chin, thinking. "Alright. I won't accept a debt from you — I'll just ask a small favor. Deal?"

The giant nodded.

Darian smiled, excited, then turned to talk to Gregor. "I've got a plan to deal with Raon and avoid more problems."

Gregor nodded back, "You won earlier. I'll let you try, but don't take too long. If Raon gets out of here and stirs up trouble, it could screw up the whole mission."

"Got it. Let's move." Darian nodded, heading toward the secret chamber.

...

Inside, just like they expected, there was only a large room with luxurious furniture and a few sealed cauldrons. It was the place where the one who built everything lived and rested while working on the construction and setup of the temple.

There were no great treasures. However, on all the walls, there were dozens of things that looked like 'mirrors' the size of a door.

Looking into them, you could see important areas of the temple. This was the central control room. They could stay there and observe the whole structure — or step through the door and go anywhere they wanted.

Everyone quickly spotted one specific mirror. Through it, they saw five humans walking through a totally wrecked tunnel...

In a massive area, countless broken skeletal corpses were scattered everywhere. Some bones still twitched slightly, meaning they'd been smashed just recently. That looked like the final challenge on that path.

It was a sea of skeletons that normally attacked visitors head-on, but... Raon was smiling after doing something terrifying and wiping them all out at once.

He calmly walked toward the end.

At the end of the path, there was a huge mural, kind of like the one they'd seen before. In a hidden corner, there was a small door leading to the treasure. It was only about two meters tall, and you had to look closely to notice it.

Darian thought for a moment. Then he turned to the sealed cauldrons, feeling something odd from one of them. That sensation came from his elemental affinity.

When he opened the lid... a sour smell filled the room.

"This seems like... an elemental fertility potion," Veyle quickly said, surprising everyone.

She looked a little embarrassed but mumbled with confidence, "It's a very basic, instinctive kind of potion. Pretty much any alchemist who can gather materials rich in natural elements could make it. The hard part is just stabilizing it."

"What's it for?" Darian asked, thinking.

Veyle nodded awkwardly, "It massively boosts the Yin or Yang in the body, for a short time... after that, it should be flushed out... usually used on beasts to make them breed like crazy."

Darian nodded, his eyes lighting up. That strange potion contained pure Yin and Yang, extracted from natural herbs. It had been blended with some other weird materials and had a strong effect on beasts... definitely interesting — it seemed perfect.

A few minutes later, Raon's group approached the mural.

Right at that moment, the entire temple shook. Darian clenched a stone in his hand. That was from the golem and, when it opened its mouth... what came out was a deep, thunderous voice.

*Welcome. You are the only intruders in this temple's history to make it to the end.*

The people beside Darian jumped — it was the golem's voice. That was the little trick Darian had asked for.

The booming voice rocked Raon's group. It was so loud, the mage in their group immediately coughed up blood, feeling the ring's energy go wild.

The group was completely shaken. They looked around, nervous, trying to figure out where the voice had come from. Then their attention turned to the skeletons on the ground...

"Why are you staring at them?" the voice echoed coldly. "I am the guardian spirit of this divine temple. I have stood guard here for millennia."

This time, Raon finally realized the voice wasn't coming from the skeletons, but from the massive mural behind them.

"You've reached the end of the trial. You are true heroes, worthy of the treasure my master left behind: the Immortal Potion of Cosmic Fusion," the voice boomed, making Raon's eyes light up.

"Immortal Potion of Cosmic Fusion?" Raon repeated, sounding like an idiot. His whole group looked shocked too.

"Step forward. I shall bless you."

In the room, everyone saw Darian doing something odd. Harper and Leander chuckled softly, feeling a bit sorry for Raon and the others.

Darian had told them earlier. His plan was to teach Raon a lesson — either make him submit or force him to reveal his true nature. Everyone could tell Raon was out of control and hiding something. Ideally, they needed everyone to work together, so they had to try something.

Near the mural, hearing that a terrifying being was about to grant them an Immortal Potion, all five of them lit up. They moved closer, eager.

At that exact moment, above their heads, space runes appeared and twisted.

That was the connection point between this place and the central chamber.

Then... drops of a dark green liquid began to slowly fall... right onto Raon's head.

He flinched. Everyone looked up and saw the liquid dripping down.

Seeing that, Raon and the others were stunned. That stuff was radiating a pure, absolute white aura! They couldn't waste it!

"You've all passed the trial together. Hierarchy doesn't matter now — everything must be shared equally... don't fight over it," the voice roared.

Hearing they'd all get a share, the rest of the group was thrilled. They grabbed bottles to collect the liquid slowly dripping to the floor.

"You don't need to thank me. This Immortal Potion holds the all-powerful ability to enhance your body. It can bring someone back from the dead, extend life, nourish Yin and Yang, awaken all latent talents... you get it all, all at once."

The voice kept exaggerating, making the five of them more and more excited.

"You deserve all of it. But once the Immortal Potion is released, it starts getting contaminated by the world. You must drink it immediately, or it won't work," the voice added flatly.

"Immediately?" Raon and the others looked a little hesitant. It felt a bit off... but they still didn't hesitate and drank it.

As soon as they did, their expressions twitched and they frowned. The taste was kind of weird. But just a few seconds later... a relaxing, pleasant feeling washed over them.

Inside their bodies, a white energy was soothing their worries... this was a new effect of the white power Darian had learned during his training. He could use it not only to heal physically, but also to calm minds and souls...

...which was perfect when you wanted to hide something dark and twisted inside a potion.

"The Immortal Potion will reach its peak effect in the next hour. You should relax and let your body adapt to the new power," the voice said slowly.

Hearing that, they all immediately sat cross-legged and began focusing.

Watching them take it so seriously, Gregor and the others could barely contain themselves. They covered their mouths, trying not to laugh. When Raon and the others realized what was really going on, they'd probably go insane. This was worse than killing them.

But after an hour... the effects did kick in. Just not quite how they expected.

There were four men, all sweating bullets, their eyes snapping open as they tried to hide something growing under their robes.

The Yang inside them started burning like a raging fire, their minds were a mess, and their bodies reacted accordingly...

At the same time, the only woman stayed quiet... breathing heavily, trying to calm her body, which felt weird and wet.

"I know it's tough, but don't expel the Immortal power from your bodies. Endure the refinement — fight now, to earn your rewards," the voice echoed, making all five of them clench their fists.

They could use the ring's power to force the Yin or Yang out, but that would cancel the effects of the 'miracle' potion.

After two hours, it felt like sheer torture.

*BANG*

One of the guys slammed his head into the floor. His mind was spiraling out of control. A frantic urge was taking over, but they kept resisting.

Which worked perfectly for Darian — they didn't notice the black poison slipping into their spiritual sea and hiding there flawlessly.

After three hours, Raon and the others finally realized something was off. Blood dripped from their eyes, noses, and ears. The built-up Yang was damaging their bodies, and since they couldn't release it, it was really screwing them up.

But they held on... as long as they could.

When they opened their eyes...

They saw ten people standing a bit away, staring at them...

The women had twisted expressions and looked absolutely disgusted. Darian, Harper, and the guys all had faint, mocking smiles.

At that moment, the five finally realized what had happened. They had seen plenty of pills and potions from other universes, but this... this wasn't refining or nourishing their bodies. It felt like it was meant to *build up* something in them... just so they'd *let it out* later.

"Thank god I recorded all of this, or no one would believe it..." Leander muttered.

"Damn... you guys better stay down. I really don't wanna see anything... weird," Harper said, nearly bursting out laughing.

All five were soaked with sweat, and the guys were hunched over like they were trying to hide something. Even the one woman had her arms crossed over her chest, trying to cover up.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Raon completely lost it, his face turning purple.

Instantly, the five of them expelled everything the potion had left inside their bodies.

"ACTIVATE!"

Darian just smiled. That had been the perfect finishing move.