Three people shrouded in a brilliant shimmer—reminiscent of holy power—caught David’s eye as he brushed the piece of cloth aside to enter the infirmary.

The first thing he noticed was the intricate golden lines that had been carved into the ground. They were precise and emitted more power than most people in the Sanctuary could control. However, what was truly interesting was where the power within the engravings led. They pooled toward the three outlines of people—humans, to be precise—and fueled the brilliant shimmer surrounding them. It was the sole reason the trio was still alive.

“What a mess,” David muttered, walking across the lines. Several voices, angry and flabbergasted, rang out from behind, telling him to be careful and to slow down, but he never even got close to touching the intricate lines on the ground. He weaved through the magical circle, eyes flicking from one corner to the next as he studied everything happening in the infirmary.

A ritual. Something strong enough to keep these poor souls alive… though unconscious.

Their life signals were so insignificant, David barely noticed them. Then again, their lifeforce was preserved and isolated within the brilliant shimmer, ensuring they wouldn’t die. The magical circle drained a tremendous amount of power, though it was hard to tell where it came from.

“How is the ritual maintained?” David asked sternly, silencing the voices behind him.

“The Heavens are channeling their power through their Champions’ Blessings to infuse the circle and preserve their lives,” Melach chipped in before anyone else could say something.

Interesting. The Heavens were clearly the Heavenly Faction that Zachariah had mentioned once or twice.

“That consumes their influence on the Earthen Union, doesn’t it? It drains them.”

Nobody said anything. Not until David shot a sharp look toward the entrance. The Champions at the council meeting guided him to the infirmary, but nobody entered. Some tried to motion to him, ushering him to leave the tent before he damaged something, but David doubted anyone could damage the Champions of the Heavenly Faction any more.

The elderly man far in the back was no more than a head with a neck and half a shoulder. The rest of his body was… somewhere. Probably consumed by Voidlings, judging by the look of his body. Nihilum spread everywhere, consuming the divine energy that fueled the sacred ritual. The Heavenly Faction succeeded in preserving their Champions’ lives, but their action strengthened the Void all the same.

Except if I consume it.

Ripe, fully nourished Nihilum—ready to be harvested—waited for him. It even consumed divine power.

“How come the Heavens don’t remove the ‘poison’ to heal their Champions?” David asked before jumping into action.

Beside the elderly man was a younger man whose body was riddled with deep gashes. He missed half his face, an arm, and both legs. However, he was still alive, though the amount of Nihilum accumulated in his body suggested that he wouldn’t survive for long once the Heavens’ power ceased. Or the moment the Heavenly Faction’s gods had used up their influence on the Earthen Union, wasting it all on three dead Champions.

Well, they’re not yet dead.

The third victim of Nihilum’s power was a woman. She was not as hurt as the others, but the amount of Nihilum within her was staggering. He had never seen that much Nihilum gathered in one place.

No, that’s not correct. The Black Rift was just as potent, if not more. But this comes very close to it.

Zachariah hadn’t found any Voidlings for a while now, let alone the Black Rift. It was like they had evaporated into thin air. So, how did three Champions end up containing more Nihilum than all the Maelstroms and Voidling corpses David had consumed in the last few days?

“The Priests say that their influence is not strong enough. It wouldn’t be a problem to fix them anywhere else, but the Earthen Union is still not fully integrated and restricts—” one of the older elves answered, but David intercepted.

“I know about the restrictions. There’s no need to go into detail.”

He tilted his head for a moment and added, “But why did nobody think of bringing them to another world to heal them there? I guess some of your Priests, Healers, and others tried restoring their bodies. Evidently, they failed. They shouldn’t have wasted their time and energy trying. Their actions drained the nutrients left in their bodies… or what was left of their bodies.”

David shook his head.

“As if you could heal them?!” someone shouted, but he didn’t bother finding out who it was.

“Torb sure thinks so,” David responded lightly. “And he’s right about that. I’m not sure if anyone else could heal him, but I definitely can.”

Though only now. If not for Vitae, I wouldn’t be able to save them. Every inch of their body was filled with Nihilum. It’s almost like they’ve been bathed in an immense amount of Nihilum until the last cell in their body surrendered. They should be dead. There was no way anyone survived the exposure to so much Nihilum.

One-hundredth of that would have been enough to kill anyone. Not even Zachariah would have survived it. If he crippled his own body—ripping out chunks of flesh or severing entire limbs—sure… but without that? Definitely not.

“We tried to bring them back right away, but the Pantheon blocked them. They were carried to the Portals, which behaved abnormally. One even collapsed before the messenger of the Pantheon prevented the rescue of the Heavenly Champion.”

Melach’s voice rang out, followed by the older elves’ angry voices.

David didn’t understand the elven tongue, but the elves’ anger was apparent. He didn’t need to understand their language to read their expressions and life signals.

“Alright. I will take care of them. It won’t take too long,” he said once the rough edges of a plan had formed in his mind.

“I’d appreciate it if you could leave me alone with them.”

Given how some Champions had responded to him earlier, a rebuttal was inevitable. He had expected it and already accounted for it. He lifted his left arm and watched as the Echo’s tattoo squirmed. It moved across Deryadus’ Arm, and Electra surged out, materializing before him. Lightning currents crackled dangerously in the air as he let the Sacred Beast loose with a bright smile.

The Champions exclaimed in surprise but backed off, leaving David alone with the three Heavenly Champions. A commotion erupted outside, and he wondered for a moment if the Champions would attack Electra.

Even if they do, they’d lose. Probably. Electra has access to 700 droplets of pure Blood, the Beast Core, and the pure Blood stored within Scalemore and Serpent Fang.

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He shrugged and approached the scene unfolding before him. His hands slipped through the brilliant shimmer, and ripples of power surged through the golden lines on the ground.

“Don’t increase your output. Lower it if you do not want to lose the last bits of your influence on the Earthen Union,” David said generously while calling upon all the Vitae at his disposal. Whether the Heavens heard him or not was of no concern to him. In the worst case, he would devour their divine energy and make them a little angry. Regardless, their Champions would survive as long as they didn’t interfere.

First, he flooded the elderly man with Vitae to consume all Nihilum within seconds. Vitae stirred and tried to go beyond the assigned task, but David stopped it with a simple mental command before it could kill the man by accident.

He cast [Weave of Life] and applied half a dozen [Healing Sphere] before retracting the Vitae. As it turned out, the Heavenly Faction was too slow to respond. They retrieved their influence and power only after Vitae surged toward the Warrior and the woman. Bits of Vitae escaped his control for a minute and split from the rest, riveting toward the golden lines on the ground.

While it wasn’t his fault the Heavenly Faction ignored his warning, David put more effort into retracting Vitae as it feasted on divine energy. It drained him much more mentally than his other commands, but it worked nonetheless. Vitae returned to the Warrior and woman, devouring the Nihilum threatening to consume their lives.

Several system notifications popped up, but David pushed them aside as he cast [Weave of Life] again. He used the golden lines to connect them to the network of lifelines already etched into the earth by casting [Weave of Life] as often as needed.

Preserving the three Champions’ lives was not particularly difficult, as the divine energy within the golden lines seeped into the lifeline network of his Skill. He felt it grow stronger and savored the feeling before casting and overclocking [True Restoration] on the woman. Albeit the least injured, David hoped she would wake up shortly to help him heal her allies. After all, she was a Healer—or something along those lines, given the tremendous amount of life-attuned energy coursing through her.

Not even a full minute could have passed before the woman stirred. Her life signal flared up, and her eyes snapped open. Her body jerked upright, and a deafening scream escaped her lips—loud enough to briefly silence the commotion outside before it resumed.

“Can you stop screaming, please? I’m trying to heal your friends,” David grumbled, discarding all thoughts of asking for her help. He focused on the elderly man and the Warrior instead.

Healing the two men wasn’t any more difficult. He overclocked [True Restoration] and cast it simultaneously on both. [Two of a Mind] was not needed to do so, but it was active nonetheless, allowing him to add [Healing Sphere] and [Lifeweaver’s Bond] as well.

The Warrior was the next to wake up. His wounds healed quickly, but [Lifeweaver’s Bond] hinted at a psychological blockage preventing the young man from waking up. David didn’t bother being nice about the mental barrier and unleashed [Bloodlust] on the Warrior. It was concentrated on the Warrior and barely perceptible by anyone else. At first, he was unsure if it had worked as intended, as the woman looked over to her, her scream finally ceasing, but she didn’t resume her deafening scream even as the Warrior leaped to his feet, a humongous sword manifesting in his hands.

“Great response, though a tad slow if you ask me,” David muttered, retracting Bloodlust before the Warrior could attack him. He focused next on the elderly man and began restoring his body, though the process took quite a while. The elderly man’s problem wasn’t a mental blockage or the amount of Nihilum that had rested within him. His issue was more simplistic, yet complicated—most of his body was missing.

But restoring the rest of the old man’s body was a mundane task for him. The only things he had to do were maintain both [Weave of Life] and [True Restoration]. Time would do the rest.

“Who are you?!” the Warrior’s husky voice rang out from the right.

David’s head flicked toward the man, his gaze locking onto a vibrant blue sea of anger, confusion, and… fear?

“Just some dude who healed your half-dead ass. So get your act together and put that toothpick away before I break it,” he responded in a calm tone.

The Warrior growled, but the woman got up from the sickbed and pressed her hand against the man’s shoulder. Although clearly displeased, the Warrior let his massive sword dematerialize once again.

“You healed us? How did you do that? Not even accessing the Heavens’ powers allowed me to heal. Not that I had access to much in that place.”

David raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think that’s how you pronounce ‘thank you,’ lady.”

Her eyes widened a little, and her lips parted, but no words rang out for a moment. She blinked repetitively and inclined her head in agreement after a few seconds.

“That is true. I apologize for my behavior.” She lowered her head. “Thank you for rescuing us.”

The woman lifted her head again and looked at him expectantly, then turned to the elderly man when David didn’t say anything. A flicker of irritation and displeasure flashed through her eyes, but it never reached her features.

“You are an excellent Healer. It’s the first time I’ve seen someone regrow a mutilated body this quickly.”

David nodded. “Can you continue, or do you want me to finish healing him?”

“I…” The woman hesitated for a moment. “I’m still recovering the energy used up in that place. My connection to the Heavens hasn’t fully healed just yet.”

That being said, David continued in silence. The woman, who turned out to be a self-proclaimed Saintess—or her Patron Goddess called her such—asked many questions, which he answered half-heartedly. He didn’t tell her how he’d removed the Nihilum but explained what one could do in a less severe case of ‘poisoning.’

“Just cut it off. Everything affected by the ‘poison’ has to be removed. Once that’s done, you can restore the body.”

Once David finished his work and the elderly man opened his eyes, he left the infirmary. Though his eyes landed on the object the Saintess had been holding onto the whole time. It was a shard, which resembled a Maelstrom. However, it did not contain any Nihilum. Something else was stored within.

That’s none of my business, he thought, grinning as he watched Electra continue angering the Champions—at least until he was far enough away. The Sacred Beast shot high into the sky and left the Sanctuary to do whatever it wanted to.

David walked back to the room he had been given as a permanent residence after some back and forth and checked the system messages on the way.

[Consuming overflowing Nihilum and divine energy nurtured and altered your Maelstrom.]

[+2.25 Vitae Nihilum]

The message was pleasant, to say the least, but so were the following notifications.

[The Heavenly Faction deemed your selfless act worthy of a reward. The forces of the Heavenly Faction value your warning greatly.

Heed the call of the Divine Compass as it guides your desires to the harbor of your goals.]

[Intent, Divine Compass, has been granted.]

[+3 Blood]

That was… unexpected. Sure, healing the Heavenly Champions wasn’t something anyone could have done without removing the Nihilum, but had that really been enough to acquire an Intent?

Or is it because I warned them? Or…

He couldn’t tell for sure, but rewards were always appreciated, especially an expansion of his Source. An addition of three Blood droplets might not seem like much, but it would go a long way. As for the Intent, David would have to figure out how to make full use of it.

[Divine Compass]

It doesn’t have a Rank. Is that good or bad? Or neutral?

David used the Intent and followed the arrow, which guided him straight to a familiar building complex. He stepped inside, followed a staircase to the third floor, and smiled as he stood before the room leading straight to his room.

“I guess it works. I did want to sleep.” He grimaced, stepped inside, and slipped out of his dirty clothes.

His expression distorted further as he took a deep breath, blood, sweat, and grime clinging to him. But instead of taking a well-needed shower, David cast [Radiant Expulsion] on himself, his clothes, and the rest of the room.

Once done, the air smelled fresh and pleasant.

“That should do,” he muttered, crashing onto the bed with closed eyes.