Damned Healer
Chapter 215: Mental Damage

Chapter 215: Mental Damage

*Slap!*

With a loud, shocking sound, the whip hit dead center in Darian’s palm. Under everyone’s stunned gaze, he just grabbed it.

The next second, the whip suddenly ignited in purple flames, which instantly spread along his arm.

"Hahaha... what!?"

Eulalia froze mid-laugh. The purple flame on Darian’s arm abruptly went out.

No matter how much energy she tried to pour into it — she couldn’t reignite it... let alone pull the whip back.

Darian yanked the whip hard. His body was still boosted with some of the power from his stars, even if it wouldn’t last much longer.

She, on the other hand, had already burned through most of her energy. Against that strength — which she couldn’t resist — she lost control of the weapon.

The whip was now in Darian’s hand. Then he waved it and immediately gave it a try.

Losing her weapon left Eulalia momentarily stunned. When the whip came flying back at her, she gasped in surprise and tried to dodge with everything she had left.

The strike missed, but she didn’t even have time to breathe before a black current suddenly rose from under her feet, locking up her whole body.

Darian smiled. Throughout the whole fight, he’d been secretly releasing bits of dark power around the arena, letting it mix with the flames and stay invisible. She thought she could win if she dragged things out — but every second, she was digging her own grave.

Quickly, that dark power spread all over the stage, climbing up and trapping her completely.

That dark energy could be controlled from afar and take on a more physical form. It wasn’t super strong. Darian had never used it like that before, since it was more effective when invading bodies or used offensively. But with how weak and exhausted she was, it was more than enough.

When she turned to look at him, she saw his grin — and her eyes went wide.

"You know... if you say you give up and admit you’re just mediocre like the rest of your clan... I could end this here. Not really a fan of this kind of stuff," Darian muttered. But anyone watching could tell he meant the exact opposite.

"FUCK YOU!"

She screamed in rage. Give up? Doing that would be an unimaginable humiliation for her and her clan — dying in battle would be better.

Darian gave a bright grin. With a motion, the dark chains tightened... twisting and forcing her body to turn.

"Great. That makes it more fun."

Darian spoke and swung the whip again. Everyone in the arena held their breath.

*SLAP!*

With perfect precision, he lashed it hard... right on her butt, tightly wrapped in those flaming red leather pants, making a sharp, crisp sound.

She let out a grunt of pain but held it in with everything she had.

The sound of the whip echoed through the arena.

For about five seconds, absolute silence reigned...

"Hahaha... Bro, hit her for real already!" Lucy’s playful voice rang out, followed by her and Niara’s laughter.

Everyone was completely stunned. But... yeah, that attack didn’t have any real power — it just hurt physically and, more importantly, was pure mental humiliation. It didn’t even tear her clothes or scratch her skin.

The people from Red River Pact were pale. The rage they felt had gone way past reason. That... the whole world was gonna see this. Someone from their clan was getting whipped on the ass!

"You bastard!"

Eulalia screamed and tried to turn around, but Darian immediately whipped her again.

*Slap!*

This time, it was the other cheek.

That kind of humiliation made Eulalia scream furiously. Her body started thrashing wildly, her mind in complete chaos.

A few seconds passed, and he didn’t strike again.

When she looked at him... Darian just twirled the whip in his hand.

She saw it and her eyes went wide, but... he stopped halfway. When she saw him pause and give her that mocking grin, she trembled, and blood ran down her lips.

"J-Just kill me if you’ve got the balls!" she shouted, spitting blood.

"Oh, perfect!" Darian nodded with a smile. "If that’s what you’re saying... your clan can’t blame me for it later, right?"

Darian swung the whip slowly. Another loud snap echoed as he hit her butt again, this time tearing through her short leather pants a little.

The clan members down in the arena looked like their souls had just been ripped from their bodies. They were totally stunned, paralyzed by the sheer humiliation...

After that, Darian looked at her and said, "See? I’m trying not to be too cruel here... Ah, screw it. Please don’t surrender!"

Then, with a flick of his wrist, another whip crack echoed, slicing through the other half of her leather pants with a loud, clear sound.

"STOP!!"

The deep, furious voice that shouted came from the vice-leader of the Red River Pact. He tried to leap from the stands to stop everything, but...

"Stay where you are, or don’t blame us for going extreme." The dry voice of the military officer rang out.

That man yelled angrily, "You think this isn’t humiliating enough already?!"

"What’s that got to do with me?" the officer answered coldly. "She’s not unconscious, so she hasn’t lost yet. If she admits defeat, it’s over. Until then, you’re not interfering."

Everyone from the clan was trembling, fists clenched — they couldn’t take it anymore.

But admitting defeat was just as unthinkable. They were the biggest clan in the empire and had already been badly humiliated in the previous fight. Now... this was a thousand times worse.

Everyone was sweating cold, silently thankful for the tournament rules. Darian could only fight two people — it all ended here.

"Give up." The vice-leader’s dry voice came out.

At least one of the clan’s youths had already qualified, and two still had to fight. If three of them made it into the main tournament, maybe the clan could redeem itself later.

Eulalia heard it, and her whole body trembled. She clenched her teeth as hard as she could.

Suddenly, she coughed up a large mouthful of blood... She was already physically exhausted — and now, something inside her just snapped.

’So this is that legendary mental damage I read about in that book! How interesting!’ Darian thought, impressed.

"I... lost..." she muttered, like she was in unbearable pain.

Right after speaking, she coughed up more blood — and then her consciousness completely faded.

Everyone let out a long breath...

She lost? Was that even a real fight?

It felt more like Darian was just going out of his way to humiliate her as much as possible... when in reality, he could’ve ended it right away.

The Red River Pact folks gritted their teeth and tried to stay calm. Darian couldn’t fight again now...

"Hehehe... kinda inspiring, huh?" Niara whispered to Lucy, who nodded excitedly.

Lucy turned to Lucius and Veyle. "Bro just set the bar way up there. We can’t disappoint!"