I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

”So the ones who entered this time... ah, I must be your great-great-grandfather, maybe even older.” Aren didn’t finish his sentence. He had probably just realized that Lian and his hypothetical companions came from a much later generation.

For this reason, not knowing some information or the difference in Lian’s accent could make more sense to him.

”This was one of the reasons we had never seen such a rift in our lives until that day. I mean, if it happened every 25 years, my father should have seen those rifts, right? But until that day, there was no other record of such a rift appearing.”

He sighed.

”Then Third Region is probably no longer anything like what I remember.”

Lian avoided answering. His mind was completely elsewhere right now.

Two hundred and fifty damn years?

That meant if he and the others spent one year here, it would be equivalent to ten years in their world! That number is insane! Equivalent to a whole generation!

His sense of urgency to leave this place multiplied several times. They had to complete the Quest as soon as possible and get out of this damn place.

Otherwise, if they wasted time, when they returned, Kain would have children and grandchildren! The tenth Ruined Realm might even have been fully cleansed.

Aren took the silence as confirmation and continued a few moments later.

”The Cindari thought for a long time that they could use the same rift we enter through.”

”But the rift is one-way. When we enter, it closes behind us. No path remains to return.” He gave a bitter laugh.

”We ourselves also realized it late.”

”We thought we could return whenever we wanted... but we were badly mistaken.” Aren lowered his gaze.

”When we entered, we imagined it was a long exploration. We would stay a few months, gather resources, and then return.”

”But the rift closed behind us. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t find a way to open it.”

Lian knew there were two ways to leave.

The Key.

Completing the Main Quest.

But the Quest was only for the Awakeners and his people. And the Key? He doubted the Ruined Realm natives knew anything about the Keys.

If they had known, they would have definitely tried to find it by any means and escape this small world.

”The Cindari waited for the next Cycle.” Aren said.

”They thought when the rift opened again, they could enter from their side, but it doesn’t work that way.” He looked at the guards.

”And the fools missed their chance again. Now they have to understand that there is no way for them to enter our world.”

”Thank you for all the information. I need to share this with my companions, especially the matter of time flow in this world.” Lian expressed his gratitude.

He had initially come to take advantage of this man and gather some information, but he had obtained much more than he had expected.

So much so that with this Ruined Realm native’s help, he had even been able to finally obtain the Main Quest.

Information that, if they hadn’t known, they would have surely been doomed... so a thank you in return for this information wasn’t too much.

”Besides you, how many others entered?”

”Many.” Lian answered.

”How many?”

”I don’t know the exact number.” He truly didn’t know the exact number. He knew it was between dozens and at most a few hundred, it shouldn’t reach thousands.

”Where are they?” Aren asked with more anxiety.

”Some are scattered, but many are inside this same city. The Cindari have given them a section of the city to stay in while we’re here.”

Aren just stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly started laughing.

His laugh was weak, but it echoed in the cold cell. The guards looked at him with suspicion.

Of course, this laugh was not happy. It was a mixture of disbelief, mockery, and warning.

”These bastards gave you a place to stay?”

”Strange?” Lian asked.

Aren stopped laughing, his face became serious.

”With what we did to them, they should kill any Human they see on the spot.”

”What did you do to them?” Another bad feeling came over Lian, and he felt he was about to get involved in another matter.

He lowered his gaze for a moment. His silence showed that the answer he wanted to give was not something he was proud of.

”In the first days we entered, we had nothing. We didn’t think the rift would close, and we hadn’t brought anything with us.”

”Food was scarce. We had no Potions. There was no map, and none of us knew how to leave this world.”

”Then we found the Cindari cities.”

”And you attacked them.” Lian said, rubbing his face. He could guess where this discussion was going.

He had no doubt that if Earth’s humans were in the same situation, they would have made exactly the same decision.

”Yes.” Aren raised his head, his voice devoid of justification.

”We entered the border cities at night. We emptied their warehouses. We took Artifacts, Potions, weapons, maps, and any valuable item we could find.”

One of the Cindari guards frowned upon hearing familiar words like Artifact and Potion, but didn’t understand the full meaning of the sentence.

”We thought maybe among their belongings there would be something that showed the way back.”

”How many did you kill?” Lian asked. This was the main issue. A few Artifacts and food didn’t matter.

The question was whether these fools had started a massacre or not.

Aren was silent. The chain around his neck moved slightly with his deep breath.

”Many.” He gave no number, nor tried to justify their actions as self-defense. His short answer was enough.

The humans of the previous Cycle were not innocent travelers who had been hunted by the Cindari.

They had also looted cities and killed many of their inhabitants. Perhaps some of them had no choice. Perhaps the Cindari had started the first attack.

But this truth didn’t change anything. A lot of blood had been spilled between the two races.

”At first, because we were together, they couldn’t fight back. Each of us was stronger than their ordinary soldiers, and we had Skills they didn’t recognize.” Aren said and continued.

”But then we split up. To find a way out.”

”There were three forests, and no one knew where the real path was.”

”If we all stayed together, exploring the world would take years.”

”We thought we didn’t have time.”

”So you divided the groups, and the Cindari hunted you down one by one.” Lian completed.

This was at least a decision he could understand, and it seemed logical, but it was a risky decision, and they should have created a defense mechanism for themselves before such a decision.

”Exactly.” Aren gave a bitter smile. He leaned his head against the wall.

”When we split up, our numerical advantage was lost.”

”They knew the forest better. They knew the secret paths, resources, cities, and monsters.”

”They formed hunting groups and followed us from one area to the next.”

”Every few months, news of another group’s death would arrive.”

”When news of the first group’s death reached you, didn’t you think about what had happened and try to find a way to prevent it?” Lian Asked

He couldn’t understand these fools’ thought process.

After one or two groups died, they should have found a way to prevent more casualties by any means.

In an unknown world, having the advantage of numerical superiority was a huge advantage.

If they used it correctly, they could have conquered this entire world.

”Our communication was cut off. Some groups entered Glassthorn. Some chose the Forest of Giants, and the rest stayed in Emberroot.”

”The distances were great, and the paths constantly changed. After a few years, I no longer knew who was alive.”

For a moment, silence fell. Remembering those days was not easy for him. He had lost all his friends and companions.

Even he himself didn’t know how he had survived until today, and how much hardship he had endured to stay alive.

Remembering all those hellish days was not easy.

”One of us understood this world more than anyone else.”

”He was a genius. Not the strongest member of the group, but no one analyzed as well as him.”

”He traveled all three forests with a few others, recording paths, ruins, rivers, borders, and terrain changes for years.” Aren continued.

”He even entered the Cindari Archives several times and stole information that no traveler could find from the outside.”

”He was making a complete map.” He moved his chained hand slightly, as if drawing an imaginary image in the air.