Odyssey of the Blind God

After waking up, Nial felt as if his entire body had been torn apart, which caused a faint smile to emerge on his face.

Pain indicated that he was still alive, and being able to sense every single muscle that ached horribly when he tried to move, sending jolts of unbearable pain through his entire body was similarly reassuring because it meant that he wasn't missing out on anything.

When he tried to move,a fresh bolt of pain shot through his body, hitting his brain and making him see stars in broad daylight, but instead of slowing down, he continued to lift his upper body at the same pace.

Sensing that his body was barely coping with that burden, his smile widened.

At least, all his limbs and organs were intact though they hurt a lot, which was oddly reassuring.

As he struggled to get in a sitting position, he heard the voice of someone familiar, which caused him to turn his head as he mumbled with all the strength he had.

"Mel..vin? What..are..you doing here?"

Nial was confused because his mana perception allowed him to visualize a simple tent and that he was inside it, with a few other injured Originals.

As such, he believed that he was in the infirmary that should have been built near the two-element dungeon.

Thus, Nial couldn't help but feel that it was weird for Melvin to know where he was and come looking for him. There was nobody who could have informed his friend about him being in the two-element dungeon, after all.

This was already odd, but when he didn't hear a reply from his friend he grew even more suspicious as Melvin was one of the most talkative people he knew of.

In the end, it took Melvin only a few more moments to say something, yet, the moment Nial heard his friend's sobbing, and guilt-ridden voice, he knew that something was terribly wrong!

"Nial...I'm so sorry…"

Melvin said only four words but just as he finished his words, he threw himself on the ground, burying his head in his hands before continuing to repeat the same words over and over again- "I'm sorry."

After perceiving the state in which Melvin was alongwith his apology rendered Nial was speechless for a moment and it was as if his breath hitched in his throat.

Momentarily forgetting about his injuries, Nial moved his body hastily as he jumped up from the bed he had been lying on.

A moment later the astonished sounds of the nurses that came rushing towards him could be heard.

"Sir, please lay down!! You will collapse if you move too much! Your body is already on the brink of breaking apart!"

"Please calm down Sir!!"

Yet, Nial couldn't hear anything they said as his entire focus was on Melvin as he asked him in a silent but ice-cold tone.

"What happened?"

It was as if Nial knew what was going on. The premonition that had been eating at him and making him feel that something was off ever since he had entered the two-element dungeon had yet to disappear.

Contrary to his earlier beleif, it was only becoming stronger as if it had nothing to do with the two-element dungeon, to begin with, which was even strange.

His head was brimming with multiple thoughts, and his muscles groaned with every move, but Nial couldn't care less because Melvin was not answering him, worsening the dread that was filling his heart.

This caused him to move a step ahead as he grasped Melvin's collar, lifting him on his feet before he asked once again.

"What happened?!!"

However, this time, his voice was filled with anger, and a portion of the few remnants of the darkness that hadn't been stored inside the Odyssey seed were subconsciously released from his body.

Owing to this, Nial's entire demeanor changed, and soldiers from outside the tent came rushing inside, armed with weapons and prepared to fight a battle of life and death if that was necessary to protect the citizens inside the tent.

Yet, what they saw was a young blind man, who was on tenterhooks, grasping the collar of a sobbing young man, who didn't even try to defend himself a tiny bit.

"They…they…took Sabrina and your parents…." Melvin only said before he bit his lower lip so hard that it started to bleed.

A moment later, he felt Nial's grasp around his collar loosen while the unique presence he had released disappeared.

Stumbling backward, Nial almost fell to the ground, but was saved from the fall when his back hit the bed behind him.

When that happened, the nurses regained their senses before they rushed toward Nial to help him get back on the bed, while only one soldier remained inside the tent, silently observing the situation, and ready to intervene if something were to happen.

However, there was only one more question that the young blind man asked, causing everyone's attention to be pulled towards Melvin, whose blood and tears were mixing together as they trickled to the ground.

"...and what do you have to do with that?!?"

Nial's voice was weak, and hoarse, and it was only a matter of time before he would lose his consciousness once again.

Yet, the last thing Nial heard was Melvin apologizing once again,

"I…It…was my fault…I'm so sorry… When I found ou-..."

Even if he wanted to, his body defied his orders and dragged him back to unconsciousness, as the nurses barely managed to lift and put him to the bed again, before a doctor rushed inside the moment he heard the commotion.

Yet, upon seeing the scene of more than a dozen people staring at a sobbing young man, who stood right in front of an unconscious youth, there was no way of figuring out what the hell had happened.

*[Several days later]*

Regaining his consciousness, Nial found himself lying in a cozy bed and a room that was void of sounds. He could smell a distinct aromatic scent that invigorated his body.

However, Nial's heart and body felt empty, as if it had been drained off every last ounce of energy to live.

Unfortunately, even this was not enough to make him sink into a deep slumber.

His pained body was full of vigor, while his mind had regained the energy it required to work relentlessly, preventing him from slinking into unconsciousness to forget about his worries.

Rather, the energy coursing through his body caused him to think back on the moments before he lost his consciousness for the second time.

Fortunately, it was at this moment that he heard an old voice that sounded somewhat familiar from the end of the room as the sound of a door opening accompanied it.

"Sir, you are finally awake! Please don't move too much, and rest a little! "

After instinctively releasing his mana, Nial quickly figured where he was and who the old man that spoke to him was.

It was the butler of the Tyr family, who had threatened him and his family, years ago, in their own house to prevent the slightest possibility of them ever trying to exploit the Tyr family through Melvin.

As such, Nial could tell that he was in the Tyr family's mansion, which caused a mixture of emotions to wreak havoc within him.

Without thinking too much, he took out his old, battered phone that looked like it would crumble to pieces any moment as he dialled his parents' numbers, one after another.

Afterward, he tried to call home, but nobody answered him.

This didn't mean that his parents had been taken away, but considering Melvin's reaction and repeated apologies, it was unlikely to be a lie.

Trying to make sense of the situation, Nial felt anger surging within him, and he wanted to get up from the bed in order to go home and see for himself before harassing Melvin to tell him about what had truly happened.

Yet, before he could do anything, the butler stood up as he said,

"I'm sorry, Sir. But please stay in the bed… If necessary, I will call for the young Lord, or I can tell you everything you want to know…"

Hearing pity in the voice of the butler caused Nial to stiffen as the dread that had filled his heart was beginning to constrict his chest.

The butler continued to look at him with pitiful eyes, and Nial felt as if it was suddenly difficult for him to breath as he was forced to accept that everything Melvin had said might truly be the case.

Even if he was not sure if he could trust the butler's words, Nial was unable to stop himself from asking in a shaky voice.

"Is...it true? Was my family forcefully taken away?... By whom?...Why?...Where?... Just what happened?"

The dread turned into hopelessness that found its way out of his eyes in the form of tears that began to trickle down his cheeks, and even though the butler saw this, he didn't move.

Instead, he told Nial everything he had personally witnessed from the moment Melvin had stormed inside his father's office, up to the moment when the robed men had forced Melvin and his father to lead them to Nial's house.

Afterward, the butler relayed whatever his master and Melvin's father had told him, including how miserable Melvin had felt, and that the young master had disappeared in his room for several days, only to storm outside the moment he had heard about Nial having entered the two element dungeon and that he had returned.

In the end, the story was nothing grand, but it was more than enough to knock out Nial, and making him go numb with shock as his brain seemed to have lost the ability to function for a while.

It was almost as if his entire mind had been blown away, and he couldn't make sense of anything, but the fact that he was truly alone and that his family was taken to some unknown place.

Calling his parents over and over to receive no response before he rushed to his empty house would be the last and finally evidence that he was truly alone, without anyone left by his side.

Holding his head that began to ache owing to the information and thoughts that flashed through his mind, he didn't even hear the soft footsteps of another man entering the room, and it was only when Nial was able to regain his senses that he repeated one more question he had previously asked.

"Where…have they been taken to…do you know that?"

Yet, instead of hearing the answer to this question from the butler, he heard the unexpected voice of a middle-aged man.

It would have astonished Nial under normal circumstances, but he was astonished about how calm and completely unbothered he was about the person who answered, as only the content of the answer was important to him.

"They were taken as captives and whisked away to Liondra, the strongest shelter of mankind! Why? You might ask us that, but neither I nor Melvin has the faintest idea about that.

We can only tell you everything we know, and I can reassure you that your family has not been killed. This shouldn't happen in the future, either!

Rather, I believe they would receive the best treatment because the Eclipse Assassins that belong to the Heaven's Gates organization wouldn't waste their time taking in someone who isn't useful to them.

Instead, your parents would have been killed if they were only in need of your sister! Because of that, you can be confident that your family is doing fine!"

Nial was still not sure who the hell was speaking to him.

A sudden fear emerged in his mind and only questions flashed through his mind.

"What is this Heaven's Gates…and who in hell's name are the Eclipse Assassins?!"

Yet just as he asked this question out loud, his mind had begun churning out a completely different plan which would be initiated once he knew the answer to a different question.

'What is the fastest way to reach my family?!'