Undying Warlord

After Arnes' first wife had died, and her reason for death was officially announced as suicide, Arnes didn't wait long before he married Dilan's mother.

The sheer thought of his mother caused Dilan's expression to turn grim.

However, the memories and knowledge he had buried deep in his mind kept resurfacing all of a sudden and tormenting his mind.

A few months after Arnes' second marriage, Dilan was born.

Arnes Cier had been having an affair with Dilan's mother for years. As such, when she got pregnant, Arnes married Dilan's mother right away.

If the worst about Arnes would have been his affairs, everything would have been fine…but that was only the beginning of a nightmare, which followed Dilan during his day and night, whether he was awake or trying to fall asleep.

In the first few years, everything seemed to be fine and Dilan grew up with lots of love.

At least, that was what he remembered. After a few years passed, his Sisters Lara, and Marie began to spend all their time with him.

What Dilan didn't know was that they had been keeping him away from Arnes since his early childhood.

They had protected him with everything they could despite being only one and three years older than him.

Now that he recalled it, Dilan was quite impressed by the intelligence and maturity exhibited by his sisters.

Dilan didn't remember when it started but he could clearly remember the awful day when he found his mother crying in the bathroom when he was very young. She was bleeding and had several bruises all over her body.

Afterward, life went downhill for him. One day, his mother simply vanished, leaving the kids with the monster that called them his children. What was worse than Dilan's existence was blamed for his mother's disappearance. He was the reason for everything bad that happened to the monster of a father.

Arnes began to beat him up for every little inconvenience the family encountered.

Whether it was a missing point in an ordinary exam, someone daring to approach his sisters with ulterior moves, or just anything under the sun, Dilan was now his father's favorite person to torment.

To the outside world, Arnes was a loving father, and someone everyone looked up to. There were probably only a handful of people stronger than him.

However, he was said to never abuse his powers, not even against the people who accused him of being a murderer, someone who violated women whenever he wanted to, and someone who did not hold back from using violence.

There had been more than enough complaints but that was the only thing that ever went against him…people complained and the same complaints died down once again.

The public had a weak memory and they soon forgot about the complaints, which was why Dilan and his sisters felt abandoned, not only by their family that left them behind but also by public.

Dilan simply endured everything, knowing that his sisters would have to face his father's anger the moment he would run away as well.

Oddly enough his father became less violent all of a sudden when he began to speak about his third marriage.

The woman he married when Dilan turned 14 years old was also in her second marriage. She had a daughter, whom Dilan and his sisters had never seen in their entire life.

Even now Dilan didn't know what she looked like.

However, that was not something memorable that flashed through his mind right now. Rather, it was the period between Dilan's 16th and 17th birthday.

In that one year, the mansion had turned into Satan's den. Not only did Arnes' third wife, Beatrix, seek pleasure in watching Dilan get beaten but she also forced his sisters, Lara and Marie, to keep looking.

They should have been wary of Beatrix the moment they heard rumors about the death of her first husband.

Unfortunately by the time they heard about that, it was already too late. Arnes, who was in truth, someone who loved abusing his authority, alcohol, and causing pain to those weaker than him, had turned into the reincarnation of the God of Torment.

Simultaneously, the mansion they lived in turned into Tartarus, the dungeon of torment and suffering…with Dilan being the person who suffered the most…for an entire year.

After one year, his sisters were unable to endure it anymore. They had already been told that they would be married off to some influential family that ought to support the Cier family's plans.

However, this was not something Lara and Marie rejected as it would usually be the case. Rather, they would pack their things in an instant the moment they were told to leave.

But before that, Dilan would have to leave…otherwise he was destined to die!

This was even more true because he found out one of his father's secrets that nobody was supposed to know, neither the public, nor Dilan and his sisters…especially not his sisters, Lara and Marie!

The secret he found out was something he would never reveal, not because he liked his father, or that he wanted to protect him.

Instead, it was for the sake of his sisters, who were more important to Dilan than anyone else.

For their sake, he would even never meet them again if necessary.

Thus, the last day Dilan and his sisters spent together, everyone went their own separate ways.

Yet, instead of being afraid, all of them were relieved to escape the hell of their father's wrath, even if that meant that it would be close to impossible to meet each other ever again.

….

Dilan was not even sure why the memories flashed through his mind. He could only see his crying sisters' faces making him relive the worse days of his life yet again.

Dilan had a sour taste in his mouth and could only frown deeply, feeling disgusted knowing that his father was a piece of trash.

Even calling it as such was probably an insult to trash but that didn't make things better in any way.

Rather, Dilan was more frustrated the longer he thought about it.

'Why are these memories resurfacing now?' At first, he had no idea about the correct answer.

It was almost as if his mind wanted to ridicule Dilan for having been too weak to go up against his father.

He was frustrated about how weak he had been, and what kind of loser he was at that time.

Maybe that was also one of the reasons for him to seek an adrenaline rush, to build up a proper physique, and to learn martial art techniques…to ease his mind and make himself feel less like a loser.

But that was not something Dilan could tell for sure because there was literally no reason for him to stay alive anymore.

Without the desire to keep living, no ambitions, or any kind of other desires, the only way to make himself feel alive was…indulging in activities that would distract him enough.

As such, until recently his life had been filled with attempts to make life more exciting and to find ways to stay alive.

And that was exactly what the Primordial Ascension brought.

Dilan was not sure what exactly had changed in his mind but every single day of the last two weeks was filled with excitement.

This even included the days he didn't fight against powerful monsters, or when he was on a hunt to collect Essence crystals of weak monsters.

Being surrounded by others had been a hassle in the past, but now it was something Dilan could enjoy.

Of course, it was impossible to avoid situations he hated or information that made living harder but life was never supposed to be easy.

That was something Dilan could clearly understand because his life had been a living hell in the past.

As such, everything he was facing now was incomparable to the time he had been living in his father's place.

Even the pain he felt by severely injuring himself over and over felt like a light breeze compared to what he faced in the past.

'I wonder if Lara and Marie are fine…I hope they are' Dilan suddenly wondered, thinking about his sisters for the first time in a long time.

He had overcome the most painful experiences because of them but as he didn't want to recall all the pain of the past, his mind had buried those memories deep inside so as to cut off everything that had belonged to his past.

As such, while Dilan's steps slowed down, he couldn't help but feel a little bit burdened by the thought of his sisters' well-being.

His mind was a mess, yet, even when he thought about his sisters and the past, Dilan was still unable to figure out why he would help other human survivors willingly.

Dilan's steps halted in the middle of the street. He looked towards the sky that was filled with countless bright shining stars.

"Just who am I?"

This question reverberated through Dilan's mind but he didn't have an answer to this. He was not even sure what type of person he truly was.

Could he be considered kind and gentle, was he cruel and violent, or did he have more of a rational character?

Dilan was not sure about that. It was odd but he was not exactly worried about this.

Right now, he felt free and capable of thinking about everything with a calm mind.

With his heart and mind at ease, everything got easier, whether it was thinking or striving to keep living and to keep getting stronger.

Yet, even then, Dilan was not able to spend too much time regaining his composure as he found himself surrounded by a group of Kobolds.

"Am I not even allowed to have some time for myself, to think about the purpose of life, who I am, and so on?!" Dilan's growling voice resounded through the surrounding.

He was fuming in rage and his presence was enough to scare the monsters that had encircled him!

Tightly grasping the Gray Slayer, Dilan took a deep breath while his eyes hardened.

"If you guys are not patient enough…I might as well take care of the lot of you at once!"

Dilan disappeared the moment he finished speaking. He appeared right behind one of the kobolds, a distinct glint emerging in his eyes, just for a gray flash to cut through the darkness.

A moment later, the head of a Mutated Kobold Warrior was detached from its body, falling to the ground with a sickening thud.

However, the other kobolds couldn't spot him.

He merely left behind a purple flash and a thunderous sound that echoed through the street.

What followed suit was not even possible to be considered a battle… Rather, it was a bloody slaughter feast…