Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 22B3 a

Shit had hit the fan.

Nothingness greeted him the moment he stepped out of the portal, and the urge to retrieve the Maelstrom overcame him. He held back and summoned both Scalemore and Serpent Fang, ignoring the Mythical Electra’s complaints as it looked at the remains of its once-majestic body.

He doubted Electra wanted to know how much of its meat he had already eaten, let alone how much more was safely stored in the spatial storage. David ignored the foreign emotions and released the serpentine Echo.

“Don’t you think doing something useful would be better than complaining?” he asked, waving the Echo off.

Its sinuous body shifted, and it turned to barrel upward. At the same time, he infused pure Blood into Bloodthrone Dominion and a trace of Origin Essence to overclock [Heightened Vision]. He took a step forward and grimaced as the ground beneath him cracked.

“Was it necessary to bring us to the rooftop of a skyscraper? No matter how helpful an elevation is for finding Them, falling from such a height will still kill us,” David asked, but stopped when Zachariah threw a pointed look at him. “That won’t kill us? Well… it probably won’t. Maja can jump through space, and I can materialize a shield beneath me. As for you—”

He looked at the Regressor and shrugged. “Your body is already Transcendent, isn’t it? You’ll probably survive a fall like that.”

“Or I use my Flying Sword,” Zachariah said absentmindedly, moving to the edge of the rooftop. David followed, eyes drifting across the glory of the province’s capital—or what was left of it.

More buildings than expected had survived since the start of the integration, but most either collapsed or fell victim to large-scale battles. A simple glance was enough to discover eight spots destroyed by monsters, Voidlings, or more intelligent lifeforms with tremendous magical abilities. He noticed the remnants of smaller settlements, presumably created by humanoid monsters, considering the skeletons he discovered nearby. It was also not unlikely the monster settlements had been created in the aftermath of a Rift materializing nearby, as more humanoid monsters with a certain degree of intelligence would regularly create and expand their settlements to protect their only pathway to and from their home.

Regardless of what had once been the case, the settlements and Rifts existed no longer. Bones and mere clues of their existence were all that had been left behind.

Emotions overcame him as Electra shared information through their connection. Communicating through their link was difficult. It required considerable mental power, depending on the parties’ distance and the extent of communication. However, even light communication required more than mental power—it also demanded trust, as both sides had to open themselves to the connection to share simple images.

David didn’t bother hiding anything since he had decided to give the Sacred Beast the benefit of the doubt. In the worst case, he would terminate [Bloodlife Echo] and tear the last remnants of the Mythical Electra apart. There was no need to distrust the Sacred Beast in his situation. He had nothing to lose.

Electra, on the other hand, hesitated for a moment, and a trace of fear and uncertainty reached David.

I don’t give a shit how you think about me. You can loathe me all you want for killing you. You can also think about killing me for all I care. However, if you want to retain freedom, you have to be useful, David told the Sacred Beast before clarifying, Everything would be a lot easier if we helped each other. We are bound forever, so we may as well ensure both sides are satisfied. If that doesn’t work out…

There was no need to speak the threat out loud. Electra opened their connection temporarily, sharing several images of the capital from a bird’s point of view before restraining their connection to a minimum once again. The connection was only open for a moment—a quarter of a second at best—but that was enough to learn all about Electra’s feelings.

It was… happy? Being forced into submission was frustrating to no end, yet the Mythical Electra was mostly satisfied with the turn of events. It had already accepted its fate and embraced death when David killed it physically, only to have its Will forcefully sealed into its Core by the System. It was tormented and modified, unable to do anything against the perpetrators. All it could do was feel… and wait until David returned, forcing the Beast Core containing Electra’s Will into the Ancient Relic.

It tried to retaliate, to regain freedom, or to die trying. Yet, it was forced into submission, put on a leash like it had always been by the Poisonous Beast God. But as much as the Mythical Electra hated its life, just as pleasant was the surprise when it felt a connection to [Bloodlife Echo]. A ray of hope blossomed—only to be crushed by the implication of the Class Skill.

Not even death granted freedom. It merely replaced one leash with another.

But David was different. Albeit not nice, he didn’t force anything upon Electra. His threats were frustrating to no end, but his commands were logical and acceptable. Most importantly, his orders did not feel like orders. They were more like suggestions laced with threats. Electra had the choice. It could follow his orders and keep growing stronger alongside David, reject his commands and be forced to do them anyway, or… if it truly wanted to, it could die and embrace death at last.

What the hell, David nearly blurted aloud.

He had never questioned why the Sacred Beast’s Will stayed behind when its physical body died. Why did he assume it was normal for its Will to prevail in the Sacred Beast Core? David had no idea. However, he could understand the Mythical Electra’s happiness the more he thought about the emotions and snippets of memories he had seen through the open connection.

His situation before the integration had been similar—not identical, and certainly not as extreme—but David had always felt like his parents had leashed him. They had restrained him whenever he did something they didn’t condone and forced him to tread a path he had never wanted. His position had been privileged—he knew that much by now—but at its core, their situation had been the same.

The Mythical Electra had been born with privileges: power and potential. But it was never truly given freedom. Not really, at least.

“I get you,” he muttered, discarding all thoughts of the past as they brought nothing but pain, and instead focused on the images Electra had shared.

Seeing the capital from a bird’s-eye view revealed more than he had expected. It showed him everything he needed to know about its infrastructure and the locations of monsters and Voidlings.

David combined the information provided by Electra’s images with the Maelstroms visible through Bloodthrone Dominion and came up with a simple plan.

Kill the Void-infected creatures roaming the capital. Avoid engaging the Voidlings directly—I won’t be able to restore you if traces of the Void contaminate the Echo’s Blood construct. He issued the command, focusing on how his orders affected the Mythical Electra.

It felt just like the things he had experienced through the open connection with the Sacred Beast. His order had been registered, but it granted Electra enough leeway to make it seem more like a suggestion. The Sacred Beast could freely decide on the strategy to kill the Void-infected monsters—what abilities to use against them, and how quickly or slowly to defeat them. There hadn’t been any urgency in the command, giving Electra all the time it needed to complete the task at hand.

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That’s strange.

David shook his head but pressed forward as the Echo’s sinuous body swept through the air. The crimson serpent surged toward the ground, charging the Void-infected.

“Can you drop me over there, near the hospital? You may have to help me a little later since there are three Saplings doing… well, I don’t really know what they’re doing,” David said with a shrug, offering Maja a rare smile as he pointed to another spot. “Zachariah can go there. A Fragment is expanding the wastelands over there near the capital’s outer districts, sharing traces of its power with Infected… infecting them.”

Zachariah turned to him with a raised eyebrow but nodded. “Sounds good.”

They turned to Maja and let the Portaligist work her wonders.

David cast [Herald’s Blessing], overclocking it as he gathered a reserve of pure Blood for instant use. A strong pulling force enveloped him for a moment, and the next, he vanished from the rooftop. He reappeared on the ceiling above the hospital’s entrance and landed softly. Turning around, he let pure Blood circulate smoothly through his eyes.

A pair of Void Saplings roamed nearby, moving in unison—securing the perimeter, perhaps? David wasn’t entirely sure what the Saplings were doing, but the void was denser here than it had been on the skyscraper.

Is there something special about this place, or is the density of nothingness a result of the Saplings’ presence? He wondered, leaping into the hospital through a broken window. He entered a small room, pushed through, and stepped onto the floor. Turning right, David picked up speed, his head flicking left and right as he tracked the third, lone Void Sapling. It was two—maybe three—floors above him, standing perfectly still.

David reached the elevators but passed them to take the staircase. He coated his feet in Blood, muffling his footsteps as best he could without a proper stealth Skill Rune, and ascended the stairs.

Once on the same floor as his target, David slipped through the broken-down door into the hallway. Inside, he caught a glimpse of the Void Sapling. It was smaller than the others he had seen and hunched over an indistinct shape. Sickening crunches of breaking bones resounded, clarifying what it had been doing. And judging by the heaps of corpses—mostly bones—piled behind it, David could guess what it intended to keep doing, unless he stopped it.

The urge to charge forward and eliminate the Void Sapling immediately surged within him, but he held himself back as he noticed something dark flicker at the end of the hallway. It looked like a spark—glimmering briefly—only to vanish before David could get a clear view.

What was that? His eyes narrowed to slits. He remained still, waiting for the dark sparks to return. But nothing happened. Seconds turned into a full minute, and still, the spark did not reappear. Left with no other option, David’s heart pounded as the urge to strike the Sapling clawed more persistently at his mind.

Electra shared more information with him, briefly opening its connection for a quarter of a second. But David didn’t pry this time. He clutched Serpent Fang tightly and used the pure Blood within the blade to unlock the full potential of a Gold Ranked weapon’s special trait. More black lightning crackled across the blade’s wide surface, imbuing it with a deadly edge. Still, as interesting as Serpent Fang’s trait was, David focused on sharpening its edge by circulating pure Blood through the blade’s Energy Pathways.

He applied Rend, whispers of Words of Power escaping his lips. Then, he listened to the silence that filled the hallway. The sickening crunches ceased, and the Sapling turned around. As it moved, David cast [Phantom Rush]. He accelerated, cracking the floor beneath him as he crossed the distance to the Sapling faster than he had anticipated.

His body roared, and his power surged as he slashed, Serpent Fang singing the song of death as it whistled through the air, lightning crackling like thunderbolts.

Then, just before Serpent Fang struck the target, a pristine-white lightning flooded the hallway, coating the edge of Serpent Fang.

A moment later, the blade connected with the Sapling’s Void Barrier and cut through it.

Serpent Fang severed the Void Barrier and the Sapling’s neck in one go. The Sapling clawed at David even as its head slid from its neck, but crimson shields stopped them from causing any harm. The head, still coated by the Void Barrier, landed on the ground and disintegrated without making a sound. The rest of its body followed shortly, the only sound reaching David’s ears the clattering of a crystal falling to the ground.

It was a Maelstrom, similar to the one in his possession.

“Interesting,” David muttered, bending down to collect the Maelstrom. It contained a weak trace of Void, albeit a little stronger than the one he already had, but that was not what interested him.

His initial plan had been to test the efficiency of Rend and Serpent Fang’s black lightning to determine if their destructive power was high enough to pierce the Void Barrier. But mere moments before the attack was about to hit, David felt like it wouldn’t be enough. He instinctively cast [Origin Lightning] atop Rend and the black lightning.

Was that necessary? David couldn’t say for sure. However, it certainly felt like he needed [Origin Lightning] to pierce the Void Barrier. Or [Primeval Pulse]. Or, as a matter of fact, the Maelstrom. Using the Void’s power against itself would certainly do considerable damage.

Let’s assume Rend, amplified by Words of Power, and Serpent Fang’s lightning trait wouldn’t have been enough to kill the Sapling… what makes [Origin Lightning] so different? Was the black lightning not destructive enough, resulting in a dire need of additional firepower? That is unlikely. So, the Origin part is the uncertain factor.

Once again, David could not be 100% certain. It was fair to assume that the power used to conjure the pristine-white lightning was what he needed to focus on to pierce the Void Barrier. But while it was called Origin, David had only used pure Blood to conjure the pristine-white lightning. There may have been traces of Origin Essence in the pure Blood, but that was about it.

One more thing to research.

He grimaced and added one more task to his mental to-do list.

The Maelstrom stored, David turned to check on the pair of Void Saplings outside the hospital. Seeing their Maelstroms through the walls was helpful in that regard, as it showed him everything he needed to know; the Sapling pair had heard the commotion from the hospital and were heading inside.

One of them was already in the hospital, charging up the staircase, while another leaped at the walls to climb them. David raised an eyebrow, several options flashing through his mind, and made his move. He cast [Phantom Rush] again, eyes flicking left and right to determine their time of arrival.

Should I do that? David wondered as he picked one of the options flashing through his mind.

Probably not… but I’ll do it anyway.

The corner of his lips curled upward, his heart racing as he reached the door to the staircase. However, he never charged inside. He turned around, cast [Herald’s Blessing] on his lower body, and rushed toward the nearest window. He burst through a mostly unscathed window and leaped outside, pure Blood flooding his Class Skill.

A screech filled the air and heavy pressure descended upon him as the Void Sapling climbing the wall discovered him. David, already fully aware of the Voidlings’ positioning, could only hear the war drums of his heart as they muffled all sounds around him. He adjusted his position mid-air and landed on the Void Sapling’s shoulders, his wrists crackling as a silverish sphere conjured in his palms.

The Voidling screeched again and tried to claw at him, but a firm crimson barrier, conjured from more Blood than [Bloodbound Bastion] could handle, blocked the creature’s desperate attempts long enough to suffer the consequences.

The Voidling seemed to realize what was happening and let go of the hospital wall to plummet to the ground, but it was already too late.

A silver blast burst from the sphere in David’s hand, piercing the Voidling’s Barrier and chest in one go.

Only then did they crash to the ground together.

They landed with a loud crash, but neither David nor the Void Sapling wasted any time to complain about the pain caused by their fall. David conjured the Obsidian Blade; his crippled fingers coiled around its handle. He applied Rend, cast [Herald’s Blessing] and [Origin Lightning], then plunged the blade into the gaping hole.

Words of Power escaped his lips, and the Blood infused into the Obsidian Blade surged into the creature alongside pristine-white lightning.

The Voidling attacked, but David didn’t even think about evading as the Maelstrom remained unmoving. Whether that was intended or not was not something he would find out anytime soon. The Sapling wouldn’t live long enough to tell the tale. It scratched the Scalemore and ripped through it until it reached David’s shoulder. Yet, even as the Void Sapling’s claws dug into his flesh, the Maelstrom never moved.

It didn’t infect him. Nor did it release a trace of the Void to stop the Obsidian Blade.

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