I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

The farther the group went toward the Giant’s Graveyard, the less the forest looked like a forest.

The huge trees of Glassthorn had disappeared behind them hours ago, and even the vegetation of the Giant’s Forest had slowly become less common.

At first, there was simply more distance between the trees, then the bushes disappeared, and finally there was nothing left except dry ground, huge rocks, and the remains of creatures that had died long ago.

Bones were everywhere.

Some were so large that the group had to change their path to pass around them. The ribcage of one dead creature stuck out of the ground like the ruins of a multi-story building, and its white bones disappeared into the gray sky.

A little farther away, a skull as large as a house was stuck between two rocks.

”So the reason they call it the Giant’s Graveyard is pretty clear.” Liana said in a low voice and looked around at the huge remains.

No one answered, and everyone except Seris was wondering just how huge the creatures of the Giant’s Forest could be.

Tavern had also become quiet, and his attitude had changed since they entered this part of the world.

The Cindari man spoke less and looked around more. Sometimes he checked old paths on the ground, and sometimes he looked at the remains of pillars that might have once marked borders.

Seris was sitting on One’s back, she had been looking straight ahead the whole time, and the closer they got, the stronger that heavy feeling in her chest became.

There was something there, not just something, something whose presence could be felt in the air even before they saw it.

The mana had become heavier, the air smelled of burnt soil and metal, and every few minutes, a very weak vibration passed through the ground.

No one said anything, they had all felt it and seemed to be preparing themselves mentally for whatever they were about to face.

”These vibrations aren’t normal.” Cassian said with a deep frown and looked down at the ground.

”No, we’re close now.” Rindo answered calmly and placed his hand on his weapon.

A few minutes later, they went around the last huge rock and everyone stopped.

Even Seris.

Even Tavern.

Even Darian, whose calm and confident expression had almost never changed during the entire journey.

What stood before them was more than the mind could understand the size of at first glance.

A Titan.

They had heard its name many times.

Seris had seen parts of its body from different distances.

Aren had told stories about a creature chained deep inside this area.

But none of those things could show them the true size of the creature standing before them.

The Titan’s body was buried between the earth and the sky.

One of its arms alone was like a huge mountain range lying across the ground, and each of its fingers looked larger than towers.

A large part of its chest was buried under layers of soil and rock.

Its huge head was very far away, and the upper half of it disappeared into the black fog that had gathered around the graveyard.

”Is that... a living creature?” Selina said in disbelief and almost unconsciously took one step back.

No one answered, because at that moment, one of the Titan’s fingers moved.

Only a few centimeters, but the ground under everyone’s feet shook and several rocks fell from one of the broken pillars.

One spread its legs wider to keep its balance, Darian also did not take his eyes off the Titan.

An announcement appeared in front of everyone.

[Warning.]

[The awakening of the Corrupted Titan is progressing.]

[Awakening Level: 42%]

Rindo stared at the number, only a few seconds passed before the number changed.

[Awakening Level: 43%]

Rindo’s face immediately became darker, this was no longer an uncertain problem about time, the damn percentage was rising very quickly.

Seris also frowned, the last time they had been here, this percentage had barely reached five, but now it was 43.

”We’re too late.” Rindo said in a low voice and moved his eyes from the panel back to the Titan.

Seris then noticed something else, four chains, only four huge chains were still holding the Titan’s body to the ground.

Their rings were so large that a human could stand inside one of them and still have a lot of space on both sides.

But three other chains had broken.

Pieces of their rings were scattered across the graveyard, some of the pieces were as large as a small house.

Some still had a very weak light, but the seals on them had gone out.

”She broke three chains.” The Young Pendragon said coldly and got down from One.

No one said anything, but they felt the urgency of the situation, it was clear that Black Silence had been breaking the chains during this time, and it had been quite successful.

Then Rindo followed the path of the remaining chains with his eyes.

And finally, he saw him.

A human figure looked almost like a small black dot against that huge body, standing beside the fourth chain.

Lian.

His body had no clear difference from the last time they had seen him.

The same clothes, the same hair, the same face, but even from this distance, the purple light inside his eyes could be seen.

His hand was resting on one of the chain’s rings, five other figures stood behind him, five Undead, one of them was Sindar.

Darian became completely still when he saw Lian, until that moment, the small and almost constant smile on his face had remained throughout the journey.

Now it disappeared, completely, and his hand slowly moved toward his back, his fingers closed around the body of the Seven-Colored Sky Bow, a cold light passed through his eyes, but he said nothing.

Seris looked at him for a moment, there was no clear emotional reaction, neither anger nor worry and no attempt to go toward her brother.

Only that sudden coldness, and that could be more worrying than a strong reaction.

But before she could think about it more, the voice of a Cindari caught her attention.

”...Founder?” Tavern said with a voice that slightly shook.

The Cindari soldiers with him also froze, one of them even fell to his knees without realizing it.

”Cindar Vael...” The soldier whispered the name like an old prayer and lowered his head.

Tavern did not kneel, he only stared, his whole childhood had passed with that name.

Cindar Vael, the Founder, the last survivor of the Final Battle, the one who brought back the First Root, the one whose name had shaped their race.

The hero who, without him, according to all the stories they had heard, the Cindari would not even exist.

Every city had his statues, every great family connected their history to him, his name existed in oaths, prayers, and old texts.

And now that same man was standing before them, not fighting the Calamity and not even dead, the Founder who should have been dead was alive.

And worse than anything, he was standing beside the Calamity that had caused the destruction of their world.

Tavern could not put these two images together.

”Maybe... maybe he’s being controlled.” He said in a very low voice and tightened his jaw, he could not accept that the man who had been like a role model and hero to him his entire life was serving the Calamity.

No one answered, everyone knew that it was not easy for the Cindari to accept the truth.

Cindar turned his head toward them at that moment, the distance was great, but their eyes met for a moment.

Tavern held his breath, there was no recognition and no affection in those eyes, no surprise at seeing Cindari who were alive hundreds of years after he should have died.

There was not even pride in what he himself had created, nothing.

The look Cindar gave them was not even as warm as the look of a ruler toward his subjects, they were simply things he no longer needed.

It was very clear from that look that to him, the Cindari were nothing more than tools whose use was already finished.

And Tavern suddenly understood something, or at least his mind finally dared to accept the possibility for the first time.

Maybe they had never been the ”Children of the Founder.”

Maybe the Cindari race had never been a legacy for the future of the world.

Maybe they were only tools, a generation that had been created to protect something, to continue a project whose real owner could not stay awake for centuries for it.

And now the project had succeeded.

Black Silence was free, so the tools no longer mattered.

Tavern’s stomach tightened for a moment, his feeling was not even anger, nor hatred, but something closer to nausea.