[BL] Accidentally Becoming the Healer of the Deranged Archduke novel Chapter 161

Chapter 161: The Monster Called Cancer

In nature, storms were necessary.

They cleansed, they reshaped the land, and in their wake, they brought regeneration.

But a storm that never stopped? That was destruction. It was Cancer.

Mana, despite being such a mysterious thing, was like the weather inside a person’s body.

When it was balanced with perfect drizzle and sun, it flowed like a gentle breeze or even a steady rain. That was how it would nurture the person it belonged to.

But when something went wrong— when corruption set in— it turned into a violent hurricane, tearing apart everything in its path.

Cancer was like a monster, slowly devouring from within. Exactly what was happening to Darius.

His body was the land, and his mana was the storm raging across it. And it wasn’t calming down.

In fact, it had not calmed down for ages.

Whenever the archduke was on the brink of ruin, the fresh, purified mana was poured into his body.

Nonetheless, it was nothing more than applying a bandage to a gaping wound. In the end, it was not of much use.

No wonder Darius would change the shape of his body to a smaller one. It was his way of minimizing the damage. And with the little purified mana stored in the pendant, he could hold on just a little longer.

Xion flicked his finger, and a murky green mana spread out of his ring. It was just as muddy as before.

He moved his hand, trying to manipulate a strand of the clouded mana.

The moment he tried to guide it, it resisted, twisting violently like a tornado on the verge of touching down.

If he forced it too much, it would lash out.

Soon, the three different strands of mana wiggled in front of him, each with its distinct traits.

His own was so calm that even when it came into contact with the violent one, there was no immediate blast.

Then there was a sea green one, which looked like nature.

Rather than calling it calm, it was better to say it was dormant.

Like nature in its slumber, it was utterly harmless... until it awoke.

And when it did, it could shatter the mountains, stir tsunamis, and bring down civilizations.

Even the most skilled weapons and warriors were useless against the sheer, untamed force of nature.

In this context, Darius was nature itself.

Xion recalled how powerful Darius seemed despite being hollowed out from the inside.

"Won’t you become too powerful after getting better? Is that why you suffered? So others could tame you?" Xion muttered under his breath.

There was no proof. No way to uncover the truth of Darius’ past.

It would be a lie if Xion said he was not interested in learning about the origin of Moonshade Affliction, and why Darius got it.

If the origin of the Moonshade Affliction could be uncovered, maybe the cycle could be broken. Xion honestly was not sure.

However, for now, it was better to focus on treating him.

Xion let Darius’ two different mana merge into each other on one side while not allowing them to mingle too much on the second side.

It was like mixing white paint into dark green. At first, it lightened, a faint illusion of success. But under the force of corruption, the darkness reasserted itself, devouring the light.

On the second side, where he prevented full contact, the result was no better.

Though the light color lasted longer, it was still slowly fading, sinking beneath the weight of the murky green until, in the end, both samples looked the same.

Xion exhaled sharply, staring at the result.

No matter what he did, the corrupted mana always won in the end.

Was it truly untamable?

Cancer was not something to joke about, and even with all the well-developed technology, there was still no cure for it.

You could fight it. Delay it. Keep it at bay.

But the moment you lost ground; it would consume everything.

Xion opened the books he had bought from the system, skimming over the words. He was looking for something, anything he might have missed before.

The minutes ticked by and they soon turned into hours.

While he was rummaging through all the inky words, he was also talking to the system.

Buy luck?