Damned Healer

Darian felt like he was submerged in an ocean of darkness. He couldn't feel his body, or anything around him. He had no idea how much time had passed, until suddenly, light returned to his eyes.

The sunlight made him instinctively shut them. When he adjusted and opened them again, he found himself in a mountainous region. In the sky, there was a large light source — but around it, he could see two smaller suns as well.

"We landed in one of the few spots that thing's power hasn't reached. Good," Gregor's voice came quickly.

All fifteen of them were gathered nearby. Gregor turned to Leander, who nodded and pulled out a bracelet-shaped artifact, strapping it onto both wrists. Then he crouched and placed his hands on the ground.

The bracelet pulsed with a brown, earthy glow — the earth element. Leander was also surrounded by an orange aura; he was activating his blessing and using the artifact to get a new effect.

After two minutes, he turned to Gregor.

"About three kilometers from here, there's a mountain valley. Can't see what's inside it, but... I can feel a huge power sealing the area."

"It's gotta be something from that Primitive Beast... Heaven's Will always leads us to a key place tied to the mission. There must be something essential there," Gregor muttered, thinking.

"Let's just go already, what a waste of time," Raon said bluntly. "This is our chance to investigate. That power'll probably take a few more hours to spread across the planet, and that monster's likely weaker during that time — it probably won't even notice us."

Gregor snorted. Their target might be weaker, sure, but so were Raon and Harper — the group's heavy hitters. If it was a trap, they'd be wide open.

"I managed to bring a short-range teleport artifact," Leander said quickly. "While that seal's still weak, I think I can move us straight inside without causing any disturbance."