Damned Healer-Chapter 139: Incredibly Amusing

A female voice, full of energy, rang out: "Black Dragon Armor!"

The Elders inside the library had never felt so terrified in their entire lives. An oppressive feeling hit them like a hammer.

The scales that had once looked like jade on the Dragoness turned black as the abyss; her hypnotic amber eyes shifted into a terrifying scarlet... something only a Risen would have.

In just a few seconds, a High Elder roared: "Risen!"

Everyone broke out in a cold sweat, terrified.

"How dare you!" the Academy Leader said in a booming voice.

He immediately pulled out a golden emblem. The instant it appeared, it shone like a sun. All the darkness in the place was replaced by a golden glow.

*BUZZ!*

All of Celestia Academy began to vibrate.

Every Mannaz on the planet felt a sudden shift — it was as if something deep underground was moving rapidly.

Inside the Academy, everything was flooded with golden light.

"Central Inscription!"

An Elder spoke, excited.

In the library, all the shelves and Jade Slips pulsed in sync. This was the place’s defensive system, built to protect its knowledge. Even a Risen Chief would struggle to cause any real damage, at least temporarily.

At the center of it all, besides the gold, there was only one thing: a black sphere, thick as tar.

Inside it, a pair of cold, red eyes stared straight ahead.

"Ridiculous," the Academy Leader said coldly. "Look at that corrupt power! This must’ve come from a Risen Lord! Your attempt to stir up trouble failed, you traitors!"

He wasn’t totally lying. He really was surprised and thought this was from another Risen Lord. Now, he had to kill those two no matter what.

With a wave of his emblem, he didn’t hesitate to channel a large chunk of energy from the Academy’s Central Inscription.

That was the shield protecting the whole galaxy from a massive Risen attack. The Academy was its core, but there were four other branches spread across the galaxy that acted as supporting pillars.

The whole thing had been created along with all the Academies by the Divine Dragon and the Enfield before they disappeared. The base of the inscription was their Bloodline and primordial power. It could naturally gather a huge amount of the universe’s energy.

Not even a Risen Lord could handle that kind of force. In all the other Academies and galaxies that had already fallen, the only structures that remained untouched were the Academies’ cores, where that primordial power had been left.

The Risen Lords only sealed those places and kept them well protected. The cores kept gathering energy. If people could break the seal and get in, they could easily drive out the enemies and reclaim the place — at least partially.

In short, even though Celestia Academy was mediocre compared to the biggest ones that had been lost, the power it held was terrifying. That’s why the Leader and Elders weren’t afraid of anything while inside it.

A summoner and her partner with one ring? That was a bad joke.

But...

Faced with that oppressive power, the Leader instinctively felt an incredible danger.

In a second, thousands of massive golden runes appeared and rushed toward that black heart in the center of the library.

**BUZZ**

A terrifying hum echoed through the whole Academy. Everyone’s eyes were wide. Even with the Leader throwing everything he had at it, that black domain wasn’t showing any signs of weakening.

The Leader let out a heavy sigh. The Central Inscription took time to gather energy again, so he had to use it carefully.

He pulled out another emblem — this one red.

"Ancestors! I ask permission to move the central runes!" the Leader roared.

All the Elders looked relieved and full of anticipation. The Academy Leader couldn’t just do whatever he wanted, obviously. He could only use a small portion of the stored power. To go beyond that, he had to get permission from the Ancestors.

These were ancient figures — former High Elders and even former Academy Leaders. For any major decision, they had to approve it. If the Leader did something against the rules, the Ancestors had the power to strip him of all his rights and kick him out.

It didn’t even take three seconds.

The Ancestors, of course, were watching the situation. They could see a lot inside the Academy secretly. Faced with that black power, they reached the most obvious conclusion.

The red emblem glowed and a rune floated out, moving toward another golden emblem.

The Academy Leader smiled. He immediately activated the central runes. Before, he had access to less than 10% of the power. Now, he could use 60% of the energy here. The rest had to be kept to protect the galaxy.

A sea of golden runes surged, crashing into the black heart like an avalanche.

Inside...

Darian was smiling slightly.

Niara could feel her scales trembling and her body heating up. There were two reasons for this. First: an immense amount of black power was being poured into her by Darian all at once.

Second... she could sense, through her Bloodline, something from that power that was syncing with her.

’This... it’s the same...’

’Yeah,’ Darian confirmed her feelings, excited about the discovery, ’the Central Inscription is based on the purest Bloodline of the Primordial Dragon. Compared to yours — even though you’re a mutant — after dozens of generations, it’s like night and day.’

Darian knew a bit about Bloodlines from that book. Blood that powerful got passed down to the children of whoever acquired it. But now, the Mannaz of this universe were a tenth of what the first Mannaz used to be.

With every generation the Bloodline got passed down, it weakened. It would never fully disappear, even after many generations; but it could become so weak that it would lie dormant inside the person, only awakening under great stimulation.

In other words, even if the Risen never invaded this surviving galaxy, the Mannaz had a limited window of time to turn the tide — before losing all the power from their Bloodlines. If they failed, there would be no more summoners.

The first signs of that weakening were already happening. Only 5% of Mannaz with the talent to become summoners were managing to pull it off. That was the main reason why.

’This is a great parting gift,’ Darian said lightly, then the rings on his wrists flared to full power.

...

*Crack*

A muffled sound echoed through the library.

As for the Academy Leader and the Elders...

...their eyes popped wide in complete disbelief.

The central runes, not only had they failed to pierce that thing, now they were starting to crack.

Black lines appeared on about a third of them, spreading like spiderwebs from rune to rune, slowly.

Darian found the whole thing incredibly amusing. That inscription only gathered pure energy from the universe, which was then channeled into something pre-designed by its creators. Those idiots didn’t have any real control over it; and the inscription was made for defense, not offense.

It was like turning on a giant faucet above them, trying to drown them with water pressure.

That energy — with just one thought — Darian had blocked it. Meru had taught him to perfectly control something this simple and with no offensive power.

Then, he sent his black power to slowly seep in like poison. Of course, it was still an absurd amount of energy, so he had to be slow and careful.

Seconds passed. Even with them throwing everything they had at it... half the runes were now covered in black lines.

"The central runes... this is impossible..." the Leader muttered, stunned.

Niara’s mocking voice rang out:

"You called me a traitor, then said we had the power of a Risen, right? Well — watch this."

Everyone turned to her...

"White Dragon Armor!"

In that instant, everything flipped.

Her eyes, which had been red and sinister, now turned sky-blue like the heavens. The black power gleamed with a pure light. Her scales became pristine white.

She smiled slightly.

All the Elders with Dragon Blood forgot to breathe.

"Divine Aura of Life!"

She spoke calmly...

Seconds later...

In an isolated place inside the Academy.

Underground.

About thirty very old Mannaz sensed something and were alarmed.

"It can’t be!"

One of them shouted. They all ran in a panic through a large tunnel, going deeper and deeper.

A huge golden gate, extremely well-sealed and guarded, appeared. The thirty of them hastily activated their emblems.

The gate opened slowly.

They rushed in.

Inside...

They found a place completely dark...

Looking up, they saw the last remnant of the Bloodline and primordial power being carried away.

"N-no!" one of them screamed, falling to his knees.

But before they could even process what was happening, just moments later...

A black shadow appeared.

In the middle of it, red eyes opened — along with a guttural, sinister laugh.