Am I a Healer? You'd Better Think So!-Chapter 43: Highly Complex

The whole group gathered in the main building. Before long, Damon and Rhea entered the meeting room.

The two had been in the empire, checking on the egg's condition—it was being cared for under the empire's greatest support—when they received news of the mission. So, they took care of both matters and have now returned.

Rhea sighed before turning to them. Everyone could feel the indescribable pain she was trying to hide:

"The egg has finally stabilized... That idiot was burning materials from other universes to feed it with Yang. He didn't care whether it was pure or not and ended up contaminating a large part of the fetus. His goal was to make it hatch as fast as possible, as strong as possible, even if its life would be short and miserable..."

Everyone clenched their fists, consumed by hatred. Freon didn't do this out of desperation for losing the egg, so there was no way to accuse him of anything. Meanwhile, Raon had mentioned that his father had planned to give it to him as soon as it hatched—probably as a temporary life-saving measure until he became strong enough. That's why the only thing that mattered was its initial strength.

"The egg will remain under observation for a few more days. After that, we can bring it back to the clan... but the damage from this won't just disappear. Not to mention, its initial problem still persists."

Rhea finished, casting a brief glance at Darian. He remained impassive. Truthfully, he had no idea what the others expected from him regarding this.

Shifting away from the heavy atmosphere, Damon brought up something important:

"The Empire received a Rank D mission. But it's not a regular mission—it requires an Invasion Group, with a limit of 15 people."

Darian had studied and learned a lot during this training period. He had definitely made the most of his time with this clan.

When a mission arrives, it comes with a predefined rank, which doesn't directly reflect its difficulty but rather the level of people allowed to participate. Rank D meant that only those with a ring could go. This restriction was impossible to bypass—otherwise, they'd just send insanely powerful people to complete everything.

The mission details also specify its objective and the number of participants. Using these parameters, the Empire determines the difficulty and which clans are capable of handling it.

The Empire takes this extremely seriously. Failing a mission doesn't just mean losing High Humans and the associated rewards—it also imposes a penalty on the Empire itself.

For an entire year, all missions received will have a note in the rewards: "Penalty Added, due to previous failure."

This penalty stacks. There have been cases where they failed twice in a single year, which forced the Empire to stop receiving missions above Rank C and saw their rewards drop to ridiculous levels. The damage from that was irreversible—after all, the Empire's entire power structure was built around these rewards.

As a result, the mentality toward missions was simple: complete it at any cost. If everyone died except for one survivor, but that person managed to finish the mission, it would still be considered a victory.

"We were selected to participate, along with two other groups from different clans," Damon said. Then, he looked at Darian and sighed. "Feels like fate. The group from the Red River Pact clan, led by Raon, is also going. Besides them, a group from the Empire's third-largest clan, the Amazon Sentinels, was chosen."

"This wasn't some scheme by his father. The Empire itself picked the groups based on the mission they received," Rhea added, noticing how everyone's expressions had changed.

"The mission is a bit problematic. But no one here is naïve—you all know about the grudge between you. That's why the leader of this mission will be Nayara, from the Amazon Sentinels. She's extremely reliable; I personally recruited her in the past. Unfortunately, she chose to live near where she was born, in the Great Forest south of the continent.

"Anyway, even if Raon wants to cause trouble, he'll have to hold back. The difficulty of this mission is no joke. Everyone will have to work hard if they want to make it back alive."

Everyone nodded, still feeling doubtful. Damon took a deep breath and began explaining the details.

The mission would take place in a universe that, in the past, was similar to the one they lived in. In that place, laws barely existed, and there was little to no abnormal power. Life was also extremely rare, with only a handful of galaxies.

However, at some point, a shift in the heavenly laws occurred, triggering a complete transformation in that universe. A single, brand-new law emerged—something like a virus that rapidly spread across the entire cosmos.

A law was like a natural manifestation found everywhere in the universe, similar to water, earth, and fire. In some universes, unique types of natural manifestations appear, and in rare cases, new laws are randomly created.

In that universe, at first, this law was insignificant. But it had terrifying growth potential, managing to take over vast portions of that place. It was called: The Shroud of Malice Law.

This law corrodes and absorbs all other natural laws. In living beings, it silently infiltrates their bodies, altering them little by little.

Fortunately, as long as the changes happen gradually over time, life is resilient enough to survive. The native races adapted to the presence of this law. But over generations, they underwent such drastic changes that they eventually became completely different beings—countless anomalies.

The law grew so much that it became something like a dense mist—a cosmic, malevolent shroud that drifts through the entire universe.

Every planet gets covered by this shroud at least once a day, plunging everything into complete darkness.

Even so, life adapted to these conditions, and the universe continued as usual.

But...

An abomination was born.

A Primal Beast. A mutant. A lifeform capable of using this law in a way no one ever had—absorbing it to grow stronger.

From the moment it was born, this creature could consume the Shroud of Malice as if it were cultivating its own body and soul with it.

No one even dared to dream of fighting it.

As a result, this creature completely dominated that universe, becoming something like its supreme deity.

Time passed...

But that wasn't enough for it. After all, it was still mortal, and one day, its life would end.

With that in mind, it dedicated itself to exploring every possible way to use that law to its advantage. Eventually, it developed a method to refine stars and galaxies, accelerating the natural multiplication of the law.

The goal was simple: to have the entire universe completely overtaken by it. The change would be extremely fast, and naturally, lifeforms wouldn't be able to adapt in time, leading to their extinction.

However, he was certain that if his law became the only one in that universe, he could merge his soul with it and achieve immortality.

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It wasn't just a foolish dream—there was actually a chance it could work. If he succeeded, he could then leave that universe without being bound to it forever.

The mission's objective was clear: eliminate that Primal Beast. Then, destroy the law's core and all its accumulated power. That way, the law would be drastically weakened, and by the time it tried to grow again, all lifeforms would have naturally developed a resistance to this "virus." From that point on, the phenomenon would be under control, and it would be nearly impossible for another entity with the same abilities to appear.

Damon continued, his tone serious:

"The Empire classified this mission as highly complex. This law, even for High Humans, acts like a poison. Every day spent in that universe, you'll lose 10% of your strength, and your bodies will be progressively invaded. In other words, you'll have a maximum of ten days to complete the mission, and with each passing day, it'll only get harder."

"As mentioned, no one in that universe is a mere mortal anymore. Everyone possesses unnatural powers and has been unified by that idiot as if they were part of a religion. Meaning, the entire universe could turn against you. As for the Primal Beast, its power is equivalent to a one-ring Spiritual Guardian and might even be able to take on a two-ring one."

The group swallowed hard. This mission required extreme caution. If they made even a single mistake, they wouldn't make it to the target—they'd die before that.

Rhea nodded and explained:

"The Empire doesn't know the exact blessings of everyone. However, when missions of this level come up, all the major clans are called to discuss them, and the leaders are aware of the capabilities of their clan's most outstanding figures."

"As you can imagine, Raon's blessing is perfect for this mission." Let's not forget that Raon's overall strength could increase drastically if the conditions to activate his blessing were achieved. It's just that they were complicated to meet. In this mission, however, this wouldn't be the case (Chapter 37). "Basically, he'll be the most powerful piece, able to activate his blessing when that law's mantle covers everything. His father moved quickly to ensure he was selected, as this is the perfect opportunity to clear his name."

"Nayara, on the other hand, has the Cursed Law Blessing. She can choose a target and a law—as long as she has a basic understanding of it, she can completely nullify its power. This ability is perfect for fighting the enemy, and her clan immediately added her to the team along with her group."

"As for us... the Empire is aware of Harper's blessing because her family has a strong military presence, and she revealed this information in the past. Her Sonic Blade Blessing has huge potential for this mission. The Diabolic Mantle forms a dense mist, filled with suspended particles, creating an ideal medium for sound waves to propagate. In this environment, sound moves with less dissipation and greater efficiency, allowing for more precise and widespread attacks."

Harper let out a heavy sigh, but in reality, one of their group's secret tactics was Veyle covering the area with his mist. That way, Harper could attack with increased precision over a much larger area, as the denser environment enhanced the reach of her sonic blades.

Everyone understood the decision. With these three groups and their three blessings combined, Raon would become the overwhelming combat force, Nayara would perfectly counter the enemy, and Harper would be the unstoppable killing blade.