The people in the slums began to whisper the name. The Saint Below. They brought him their sick, their hollowed, their empty children. The dark tunnels were filled with the sounds of crying, groaning, and laughing. It was the loud, messy symphony of true human life.Luna stood near the warm fire in the barrel. She watched Rick work. Her eyes were full of love, but they were also full of deep worry.Inspector Vane stood next to her. He was wearing an old, dirty brown coat now. He helped around the clinic, bringing water and holding patients down when they struggled. He looked tired, but his brown eyes were sharp and alive."He is killing himself," Vane whispered to Luna.Luna nodded slowly. She looked at Rick's hands.Rick was pulling the Heaven's Cure out of a young girl. As the blue light shattered in the girl's chest, a wisp of the dark blue energy traveled up Rick's arms. Rick coughed heavily. He turned his head and spit onto the dirt floor.His spit was thick, and it was swirling

The blue glass fell like rain. It was a terrible, beautiful storm. Millions of sharp, glowing blue pieces dropped from the broken ceiling. They cut through the dark air of the cavern. They hit the dirt floor with a loud, crashing sound. Crash. Tink. Shatter.And right behind the glass came the Enforcers.Hundreds of them dropped from the bright hole above. They wore their thick, spotless white armor. Their blue visors glowed in the dark. They did not scream as they fell. They did not yell a battle cry. They landed on their feet with heavy, perfect thuds. They were totally silent. They were machines of flesh and bone, emptied of their souls, ready to clean the "dirt" from the world.Rick stood in the center of the Hollow Clinic. He held his old wooden staff tightly in both hands. His knuckles were white. His chest was covered in his own dark, poisoned blood. He was exhausted, but he did not step back."Protect the patients!" Rick shouted. His voice was hoarse and broken, but it echoed

The sound of Luna's voice broke the spell. It was a scared, messy, desperate human voice. It was real.Rick's erratic pulse slammed against his ribs. THUD.He snapped his head up. He looked at the giant blue face. He saw the absolute, terrifying emptiness in Yuren's eyes. It was not peace. It was the void. It was death pretending to be medicine."No," Rick said.Rick stood up straight. He lifted his staff high. The green light roared back to life, but this time, it was mixed with a wild, dark gray energy. It was not the pure black of hatred, but the dark gray of deep, heavy human sorrow. He was using Kael's tear as a focus. He was using the power of pure sadness.[System Alert...][User Rick initiating chaotic resonance.][Warning: Pulse critical. Risk of physical collapse: 92%.]Rick ignored the flashing red box in his vision."I am a healer," Rick roared, his voice echoing like thunder. "And sometimes, a healer has to cut out the rot!"Rick slammed his wooden staff into the dirt flo

"This is the hidden clinic," Rick said. He walked up to the heavy stone door. He placed his bare hands flat against the cold, dusty rock. "This is where I learned how to be a doctor. This is where my master taught me Qi Surgery. It was a secret place, hidden away from the wars of the world."Rick closed his eyes. He remembered his master's voice."The world is full of people who want to break bodies, Rick," the Physician's voice echoed in his memory. "A healer must hide his greatest tools. Because if an evil man finds a tool of healing, he will only twist it into a tool of torture."Rick pushed his hands hard against the stone. He sent a wave of his green Earth Qi into the door.The old stone recognized his energy. Deep inside the rock, ancient locks clicked open. Click. Clack. Thump.With a loud, heavy grinding noise, the massive stone door slowly pushed open.A rush of stale air blew out of the dark room.Rick expected to smell the comforting scent of old medicine. He expected to sm