My SSS-Rank Class Is Blood Monarch!-Chapter 360- A Man and His Void (Part 2)

"We were a small group of survivors in a place we had no idea about. You could imagine the situation." Yonathan continued as if he didn't care about Arthur's ever-changing reaction. "We were lost, and injured. However, we still didn't give up and decided to survive as our last choice."

"How?" Arthur asked in a low tone.

"We gathered resources from the broken ships. There was enough for us to survive for years. We used the wood from the broken ships to construct shelters and try to settle down. The darkness was by far our biggest challenge. No amount of light could truly illuminate the void. This place had never seen the sun in its entire existence."

'That is quite true. This place is so dark, it feels like it just lost any ability to accept light. The atmosphere itself is completely dark.' Arthur thought to himself as he looked left and right. He had been in this place for close to a day and he was still disturbed by how dark it was.

Had it not been for the skill that allowed him to have night vision, he would've been unable to navigate this world at all. It was one of the weirdest places he had seen in the divine realm so far.

"We were all feeling really defeated, sad, and with no hope of ever seeing the sun again. I had to take the role of the leader again and pick everyone up. We knew that our only hope was to build our lives there from scratch and we did exactly that. We spent years and years settling down, making sure we can survive for a long time while we search for a way out."

"Years…"

"Well, as you might expect, due to our situation, we eventually ended up having our own offspring in this world. We knew that if we ended up dying, our children would at least carry our will for the future. However… We quickly realized that all the children being born were all blind."

"Blind?"

"Total blindness. Their eyes were incapable of absorbing light." The old man explained as he turned to face Arthur.

"Total blindness… Is it because of the Void?"

"Possibly. It could've been the Void itself or the way it affected our bodies and altered our genes, making us bear blind children. All the people you see here, they're all the offspring of my subordinates and my friends…"

"..."

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Arthur instinctively looked at the door leading inside the shelter. He remembered the sheer number of people in there and the realization that they were all the offspring of the first people to arrive here.

'So that's why they were all blind. To think it was such a reason… Dammit, this game is really cruel sometimes.' The boy clenched his fist tightly as he swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Eventually, we were able to fully settle down. We started looking for a way out and that was how we ended up finding that island I told you about. At first, we were hesitant to try and explore that place. But, eventually, after a long discussion, a group decided to go in there and explore." As the man said those words, his voice started wavering and his expression darkened visibly.

Arthur could feel that what he was about to say was going to be very unpleasant. So, he listened quietly.

"None of them ever came back alive." He said. "Then, another group tried to go in there to try and rescue them or at least find them… That group also never came back."

"What the hell…?" The boy felt a chill run down his spine. "What's even in there?"

"I never stepped in there," Yonathan said. "As the leader, they didn't let me go with them as the entire group depended on me. If I die, then they will all die… Or that was what they told me. We argued, fought, and in the end, I couldn't convince them to let me go."

In the end, Yonathan forced a small laugh filled with sadness and regret. "Now that I think about it, their decision was… correct. I was the bearer of the most knowledge out of everyone else and my presence in our children's lives was the most important. I had to hand them our will and our hopes and dreams."

"Then, before I even realized it… All of those 49 people aside from me… They all died. Most of them sacrificed their lives trying to find the way out of this place and the rest died from old age and exhaustion. I'm the only one left from the first generation. An old and wrinkled man who failed to find a way out of the Void even after dozens of years." The self-deprecation in Yonathan's voice was as clear as day. Arthur could understand the regret and sadness in his voice.

He felt as if all the sacrifices of his friends were for nothing as he couldn't achieve what they wished for. It has been god knows how long since they all died and yet there was clearly no progress made.

Arthur simply couldn't imagine the sheer burden of such guilt on the old man's shoulders. He must've been living through that torture every second of his life while his body deteriorated with time.

'To think this old man had been through so much… No wonder his eyes look like they're as deep as the ocean itself. He had been dealt the ugliest possible hand.' Arthur looked down with a complicated expression.

"Why?" He eventually spoke again.

"Why?"

"Why did the royal family punish you guys and send you here? What crime did you commit?"

"Crime?" Yonathan raised an eyebrow. "No, no… It was never a crime. They punished us for being human. They punished us for having hearts that feel and eyes that see. Those monsters… They want this entire world to live under their illusion, to see what they allow and ignore what they don't like. Thousands of years worth of history and death all altered so that they can be looked at as these divine beings who saved humanity."

"..."

"Make no mistake, child. This world you're living in is far from the truth. I'm sure you have seen the capital and the way people live. All of that is a lie… All of it. That family is nothing but a curse upon this world and my only salvation is seeing them burn to death in their own wrongdoings!" Yonathan yelled loudly, his voice filled with anger and hatred, deep enough to make Arthur afraid. "I wish to see them be dragged to the deepest parts of hell by the innocent souls they killed, humans and non-humans. They deserve the worst punishment of all!"

"Yonathan…"

"I won't burden you with such a task, Arthur. I doubt you even understand what I'm saying. But, I will tell you this. If you can leave this place and end up being in contact with the Old Devils, never trust them, never strike deals with them, and most importantly, never give them any leverage over you. Because the moment you do… You're done for."

A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let's keep it up!