Damned Healer

Chapter 35: Abyss Nest

Chapter 35 - Abyss NestThe whole Celestia Academy was in a frenzy—a sea of people rushed in from every direction. All the Summoners had received the alert, and those who could make it showed up right away.

The Elder in charge of the newcomers gathered everyone in the academy's outer courtyard, where emergency meetings were held. This kind of situation only happened when a major threat was approaching.

An hour later, millions were already waiting.

Once the flow of people finally stopped, a Mannaz with a body covered in reddish fur appeared in the sky. He was riding a bluish flying beast that looked like a majestic ice eagle.

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

His partner's blessing was support-type, specialized in creating ice barriers. The two of them could hold their ground alone in the middle of enemy territory for a long time—and even when they ran out of energy, they could still retreat in one piece.

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

For regular folks, getting wounded by a Risen usually meant the end—either a quick death or turning into one of them. But for a Summoner, it was more like a curse that refused to heal.

If left untreated, the wound became like a spreading poison. Once it reached a certain point, there was no going back—only the transformation into a Risen. But in battle, finding time to retreat and heal was pure luck.

Since there were no healers capable of purifying it, the only way to recover was to pop high-grade pills one after another—and even then, healing took forever.

That's why almost all support-type Spiritual Guardians focused on blessings that created barriers or other defensive powers. On top of that, they'd buy tons of gear to escape in emergencies.

As for fighters and mages, they only attacked when they were sure they wouldn't get surrounded and could end the fight fast.

Tanks and Mystics were the rarest types of Spiritual Guardians. Tanks had to fight while protecting their Summoner—any slip-up and it was game over. Mystics were versatile and could do a bit of everything, but they weren't great at anything, which could be risky.

Back in the courtyard, everyone who recognized Ceug tensed up at the sight of his injuries.

What the hell had done that to him? A powerful Risen was easy to detect when it moved—there shouldn't have been any chance of getting caught off guard.

Ceug looked over the crowd like he didn't have a second to waste. His eyes seemed to be

'In the past, entire galaxies were lost because an Abyss Nest showed up and they failed to destroy it in time. Everything has to be done precisely, all together, without wasting energy. That's why... even if everyone dies, if the Nest is destroyed, it's a win.'

Darian understood. There were more strong Risen than there were Spiritual Guardians — that was just a fact.

And around the last surviving galaxy in the universe, there was a barrier that stopped those things from showing up in big waves.

The weaker ones could attack almost freely. But the ones stronger than a three-ring Spiritual Guardian could only strike at certain times, coming in smaller groups from opposite directions. If the channel from the Nest became stable, though, everything would change.

Darian got the logic. Creating that Nest must've cost the enemy a lot, so they only ever acted together to pull it off.

The Spiritual Guardians who had just won that battle were set up... that win was probably on purpose, because the Risen knew they'd go home and the universe would be short on powerful defenders for a few days...

There was no way the enemy could've pulled this off without solid inside info. Which meant the traitors helped.

There always had to be a group of powerful Spiritual Guardians stationed around the galaxy, holding back those few strong Risen that could sneak through from time to time. Right now, if they all gathered in one place to destroy the Nest, those few Risen would have a clear path to invade from other directions.

The Risen were like a nasty virus — once inside, they'd multiply using people from the galaxy, and then you'd never stop them.

Niara finished explaining and waited to hear Darian's decision. She turned toward his shoulder and saw him silent, deep in thought.

'What's wrong?'

Darian took a deep breath and said, 'That guy Ceug... he's not telling the truth... if we... no — everyone's going to die.'