Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 45B2 - Destress

Maja couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was a disaster—a catastrophe.

David looked like a deer in headlights, his eyes glued to the scroll confirming his parents' deaths, when news of a nearby Sanctuary’s destruction reached them. She still didn’t fully understand what had happened—to the Sanctuary or to David—but he had nearly choked a member of the Familia to death, demanding they tell him everything.

Reports said a Great Horde had obliterated the Sanctuary. It was complete annihilation. No resident survived, and not even the Panthea seemed to have overcome the ordeal.

What was it they said again? Maja tilted her head, glancing at David as his blood projectiles tore through the rows of enemies, killing them one by one.

She couldn’t quite remember what the Familia member had said, only that it was related to the Panthea’s Divinity. But it wasn’t important—not to David, at least. As far as Maja could tell, David’s only interest was killing. And that was what he did.

They rushed to the destroyed Sanctuary, which didn’t take long with long-distance teleportation, but only ruins of a large Sanctuary remained. David didn’t search the Sanctuary for enemies. He merely glanced at the ruins once and turned away, his face ice-cold. Maja shuddered as she remembered his expression. It was terrifying. But she wasn’t scared. If anything, Maja felt pity.

He was trying hard to swallow the pain, to bury it deep inside, but Maja caught a glimpse of it.

So, she did the only thing she could think of: she tried to help.

They teleported across the region, searching nearby towns for the Grand Horde. At first, they found only death, destruction, and corrupted soil. But as they neared the towns close to the Dwarven Sanctuary and Ashville, the scenery changed. Smaller groups of undead, half-dead, and venomous creatures ravaged the environment, destroying all living things. Not even the ground and plant life were spared.

David killed them all. Anything that exuded even the slightest killing intent was met with Bloodlust, Rend, and [Blood Blast]. That alone wiped out more than a dozen enemy groups.

That was until they encountered the Grand Horde.

It was nothing like the Darkai Horde.

There were easily over ten thousand monsters. David estimated between twenty and thirty thousand—maybe more.

But even that didn’t scare David.

It didn’t make any sense.

Was he tired of living after hearing about the deaths of his beloved?

She could understand that. Much better than most ever would.

But if he had been so attached to his family… Why… Why hadn’t he started looking for them earlier?

He never talked about himself. Not once had he told her anything about his past—his friends, his family.

It hurt.

But not as much as watching David charge the Grand Horde, shrouded in poisonous gas.

Maja couldn’t even remember how much time had passed or how many monsters had fallen victim to David’s wrath. But her tears had long since ceased and dried.

She cast vision teleportation and was relieved when David didn’t block her. He was drenched in blood, acid, and other bodily fluids, but his features remained unchanged. The same cold face—no words escaping his lips—as he stared at her.

Ashville was their next destination—away from the Grand Horde, away from all pain. Back home, hoping to talk to David about his emotions, hoping to reach him.

It was all to no avail, Maja thought, clenching her fists until it hurt.

How was she supposed to know that Ashville was under attack—from the same enemy, no less?

At least the army attacking Ashville was smaller. More manageable for David.

Will that be enough to calm you down? To get your act together?

Maja had no idea. She felt sorry for him, but watching the massacre unfold on the battlefield was terrifying nonetheless.

David was under attack from all sides—monsters clawing and striking him, trying to crush him before he could retaliate—all while she desperately tried to teleport him away. However, David blocked all of her attempts.

She was forced to watch as more and more monsters attacked him, slowly wearing down his crimson-colored armor.

“Don’t you dare die on me!” she hissed, coughing up blood after another failed attempt at teleporting him away.

David kept moving, grey crescent blades and bloody projectiles whipping in all directions, cutting down enemies by the dozens. But while it looked like he had the upper hand, Maja couldn’t shake the anxiety clawing at her.

David’s armor cracked and shattered, yet he made no effort to defend against the incoming attacks. He ignored the monsters covering him in acid, clawing at him, tearing his chest open.

David tended to his wounds after dealing with the attacking monsters. Regardless, Maja assisted, summoning several portals into existence.

The dense ores scattered across the battlefield shifted. They vanished into her portals, reappearing above the swarming monsters that struggled to reach him. Dozens of kill notifications appeared at the corner of her vision, their numbers skyrocketing as the ores struck the monsters repeatedly.

After several barrages, Maja’s legs buckled, and she nearly fell from the rooftop—until someone caught her. A calming sensation spread through her, and she looked to her right to see Zora holding her, wearing a thin smile.

“You have… changed,” Zora muttered, her eyes drifting across the battlefield with a somber expression. “We failed you.”

Maja’s lips parted, but she couldn’t find the right words to respond. Instead of saying something she didn’t mean, she stayed silent and watched as the poisonous fog dispersed. She caught sight of hundreds of fireballs, magic projectiles, and arrows whistling through the air in graceful arcs. Most attacks missed, but the few that landed proved sufficient to weaken the enemy’s forces.

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Two volleys of long-range attacks and the melee fighters’ return marked the battle’s end, yet all Maja could focus on was David and the carnage surrounding him. The last monsters fell to the Obsidian Blade, but it didn’t look like David was done. His head flicked left and right as if searching for more enemies. However, all had been taken care of.

Maja straightened up and winced as the battlefield before her changed. Blood was everywhere, drenching the ground in its entirety. Yet, despite the carnage, she found herself mesmerized as crimson particles—minuscule motes—leaked from the corpses. They filled the battlefield, swirling around, momentarily stripping away all the pain and terror she had just experienced and inflicted.

Her mind went blank, and she caught herself smiling—until she realized the motes revolved around David.

They whirled through the air, flowing toward him as the crimson armor around him dispersed. But the moment Maja looked at David, the vibrant smile on her lips cracked. The mesmerizing image shattered when she saw the tears trickling down his pain-ridden face.

Maja couldn’t recall ever seeing him like this. His expression had never been so pained, and he had never cried before. This wasn’t the David she had gotten to know. And that…

Maja took a deep breath.

That made everything even worse.

Looking at David like that felt like someone had twisted a blade in her heart after piercing it over and over again.

She teleported to David, pushing through the crushing weight of his Bloodlust as she stepped closer. Hundreds of crimson motes twirled around them as she reached him. He looked at her, and his expression distorted even more.

“I resented them,” he muttered. “I always loathed them for the way they treated me… They made me feel like a tool in their schemes… They always had a plan for everything. I…”

David’s legs gave out. He slumped to the ground, and Maja quickly followed, bending her knees to sit beside him.

“I… All I wanted was freedom. I retaliated, but I wasn’t even good enough for that,” he blurted out, his voice cracking. “The integration gave me freedom. It gave me the opportunity to find out who I truly was… who I truly wanted to be…”

Tears welled in Maja’s eyes. The pain in David’s voice got through to her, and she started sobbing, bawling her eyes out as she leaned forward and hugged him tightly.

David didn’t respond to her hug. He stayed on the ground, his shoulders slouched, tears streaming down his face.

“I just wanted to show them what I was capable of without their constant supervision,” David muttered.

But he could do that no longer. His parents were dead. They couldn’t see the man he had become.

“I hated them, but I didn’t want them to die…”

***

David had known about it all along. It had never been certain that his parents and friends would survive the integration. He had thought about the possibility of their deaths before as well. But as it turned out, thinking about something and coming to know the truth—cruel and bitter—were entirely different.

The truth struck hard. A lot harder than he expected it would.

He never wanted to believe he loathed his parents. But they forced him into things he didn’t want—made him do things he despised. And while he had given his utmost to please them for as long as he could remember, it had never been enough. They never praised him. Instead, they rewarded him with more tasks whenever he finished ahead of schedule.

But was it really so hard to praise him? To shower him with love? To tell him how much he meant to them?

David couldn’t tell.

And he had been certain he didn’t care about it anymore.

It had only been a year since he acknowledged his parents would never change—that they would always demand more from him, forcing him into things he could not do—or did not want to do. He recalled backing off, calling his parents less frequently, until their communication reached the lowest point he could remember. It was only when their weekly chats and constant meetings decreased that he realized how much he hated everything—himself for not standing up for himself and his parents for forcing everything upon him.

He thought he had forgotten about it all. After all, the integration had changed everything—everything. Or so he had hoped.

But he still cared. No matter how much he hated his parents for treating him like a tool, he still craved their acknowledgment, their praise. Their love.

Was that why it hurt so much? To know he would never meet them again? To never hear them say they loved him?

David had no idea, and that only added to the confusion.

If he couldn’t understand himself… who was supposed to understand him?

Only William and Felix were still alive.

It was great that they had survived, but he was certain Felix had been in one of the regions replaced during the integration. If the god’s information scroll was correct, that meant Felix was alive but no longer in the Earthen Union. That was also why the information scroll didn’t mention a location—only: [Outside the Earthen Union].

Even William’s location was strange: [Nearby, yet far away.]

David and Maja had searched the region for weeks, but William was nowhere to be found. Still, David was relieved that William had survived the integration. At least one of his friends was still out there, even if they weren’t together yet. He was certain they would meet in the future.

“Are you okay now?” Maja asked, pulling away from the embrace.

Her eyes were red and puffy. She had cried with him and continued even after his tears had stopped.

“No,” David admitted. He was a mess, and he had no idea how long it would take to sort through it. “But I will be fine. After the mess has been taken care of.”

He pulled himself to his feet, casting [Greater Restoration] on his weary body. David turned to the battlefield and nodded. He hadn’t wasted a single trace of lifeforce—not even in rage. His energy reservoirs were full, though his Source didn’t look too well. Overusing his Intents must have caused considerable damage. But his Source recuperated quickly. Origin Essence and pure lifeforce worked wonders on a strained Source.

“Should we move everyone to the Dwarven Sanctuary? They’re not safe here,” Maja suggested.

David only shrugged. He heard footsteps in the soft soil to his left and turned to see Lukas.

When had he lost his right arm?

“What are you talking about?” Lukas asked. “The Horde has been defeated. Why are we—”

David stepped forward and swung his soulbound blade at the swordsman. A fountain of blood spurted as he sliced through Lukas’ right arm.

“Argh! What are you do—” Lukas hollered as the others surged forward in unison.

David looked up, and without even bothering to use [Bloodlust], he simply said, “Silence.”

They froze at once—including Lukas. He bled like a pig but didn’t dare to move.

How weak-willed. Pathetic.

David shook his head and grasped Lukas’ bleeding arm, ignoring the warm, slippery blood spurting over his hand. He cast [Greater Restoration], emptying the Blood Storage in his shoulder.

The bleeding stopped almost immediately, and the restoration process began. David added one overclocked [Healing Sphere] and attached it to Lukas.

“Your arm will be fine in a few hours.”

He turned to Maja and gestured for her to do the talking. She took the hint and told the others about the Grand Horde and everything they had seen on their way.

The others paled, their life signals a rumbling mess. David cast another [Healing Sphere] and turned away.

“Pick me up when you decide what to do.”

“What are you doing?” Maja asked.

He only shrugged. “Someone has to heal. And I… I need to think.”