Chapter 2 Legendary Man-Eater
Nathan regained his senses. And now he was sitting in a luxury car. A grown man and a little child sat in front of him.
'What is this? Where am I?'
Slowly, the face of the person in front of him began to clear, and immediately he seemed to scream. 'Leon!!!' but he couldn't utter a word.
'I can't speak.'
The man was up to two meters tall, with blonde hair and green eyes. He had a sharp chin and soothing eyes staring warmly at him.
'He is not Leon. He is… Dad?'
Nathan immediately noticed the figure of a child beside the man. A five-year-old little boy with white hair and a black suit sat with his face down. He is little Nathan.
'I went back in time? But wait …'
With a glimpse from the corner of his eyes, Nathan immediately observed his own appearance. White hair stuck out from his shoulders, and he wore a black dress.
'I am wearing a dress? What on earth… Wait a minute. Am I… Mom? I am seeing things from Mom's eyes?'
Nathan suddenly felt a great shudder ripple through his body. His tears seemed as though they were about to spill, but he had no control over his body. Or rather, on his mother's body?
He was looking through his mother's eyes. This was his mother's memory left on the System he got.
"Devon!"
In her stern voice, Diana Gardner, Nathan's mother, shouted at his father, Devon Gardner.
Nathan immediately felt great sadness and melancholy pierce through his heart when he heard his mother's voice after a very long time. He missed her so much.
After their deaths, Nathan had never heard their voice or video recordings again. This experience was like finding an oasis after a long journey in the desert.
"We will only be going to Yunatea for a few hours, my love. Isn't it okay? Nothing wouldn't happen, right?"
Devon Gardner smiled widely and raised his hands, trying to convince the woman in front of him.
"If you know I won't agree, why are you still asking my permission, Devon?" Diana continued shouting in a stern tone.
Nathan watched the scene unfold before his eyes, replaying a memory he had never had. The incident might have happened in the past, but he really didn't remember the slightest bit of it or know exactly when it happened.
Diana crossed her arms, her teeth gritted angrily at the man before her.
"Ah, he he..." Devon smiled widely and scratched the back of his hair. "Yes, it seems I once again pissed you off... I'm sorry, my love."
Diana immediately leaned forward in response to her husband's words.
"Devon! How many times do I have to repeat myself? What you are doing is dangerous!"
Devon then embraced the small body of the boy on his left.
"Looks like we have to wait a little bit more until this handsome boy's request is fulfilled."
Devon Gardner gave Little Nathan a little squeeze using his muscular arms to lighten the sting of his mother's rejection a little bit.
Little Nathan lifted his face and looked at his mother with narrowed eyes and a frown on his forehead.
"Mom… Can I, please?"
The world of Yunatea. For a hunter, to be able to enter the world is not easy. It requires a huge amount of resources to do so; specifically, a horrendously large amount of mana to activate the gate.
The Gardner Corporation was a company built by Devon Gardner to sponsor hunters who wanted to explore that world. He did so because if anyone insisted on gathering the resources themselves from the small level dungeons in the New Earth, it would take years to do so.
Many companies did the same. The main objective was to exchange resources between New Earth and Yunatea. While Monster Cores were very useful in this world, the technology possessed by the New Earth was also very much needed in Yunatea.
Besides, the exotic monster shows, slave trade, and other entertainment businesses were also carried out between the two worlds. The great war that was fought between the two worlds had actually resulted in business relations becoming closely intertwined.
The Gardner Corporation was a company that even now had a prominent position in one of the human kingdoms in Yunatea. The company owned its own land and had established a large city. Devon Gardner ruled as a City Lord in that fairly developed city.
As a father who loved his children, he wanted to take his son to his land, which would become his in due time as was his birthright. Diana was Devon's first wife, and he ensured Nathan would also have his share of what he had built to such an impressive extent.
"Devon, Nathan, my answer is no, and it will continue to be no until you're much older! Do not make me angry!"
Devon's shoulders dropped, and he smiled disappointedly. "All right, all right… Fine. We'll go back home then. "
Even Lewis and Lily, Nathan's three-year-old twin half-siblings, had already visited Yunatea. And little Nathan was still restrained by the determination of his mother, who continued to forbid him relentlessly.
Devon was about to knock on the glass connecting to the driver's room when the car they were driving suddenly stopped, and a burst of explosions sounded from all around them. Nathan's small body was immediately embraced by his father. And tension immediately filled the faces of those two adults.
"Diana, get out of the car and protect Nathan!"
Diana immediately grabbed Nathan's small body and embraced him in her arms.
Devon narrowed his eyes in a fury, opened the door, and stepped out with his fighter aura blazing fiercely. However, the sight outside the car took him by surprise.
Dark clouds covered the sky, making the city feel like it was at night.
Devon glanced at his escort cars and found that they were all crushed beyond recognition by the power of their attackers.
He immediately realized that he was facing a powerful enemy and unleashed his golden white war armor. At the same time, a mystical white sword appeared in his hand.
"Come out and show yourselves!" Devon shouted furiously. However, he remained where he was to stay close to his wife and son.
At that moment, a group of people appeared from the front and back of the overpass which they were at.
"Nicolas Gilson. I should have known. Only you are capable of such stupidity. You are courting death!" Devon shouted, looking at a man in a black suit and two-meter tall, dark blond hair who walked up to him.
"Stupidity? Hahahaha! Why don't you say that again after looking at my buddy here?" Nicolas Gilson cackled wildly.
A fearsome humanoid monster with a goat head with two curved horns protruding suddenly appeared behind him. His right hand gripped a huge and wicked-looking scythe while his left held a strange and ominous-looking lantern. A large coffin was attached to his back, and a dozen shadow hands could be seen coming out of the coffin.
"Legendary Man-Eater?" Devon muttered under his breath.
He gripped his sword tightly and unleashed his aura to the maximum. The already blazing hot fighter aura that surrounded him instantly rose by several notches, completely showcasing his strength as a high-level hunter.
"Diana, prepare to run," Devon said grimly. Man-Eaters were no weak enemies that he could deal with at all. His fate was all but sealed as soon as that Man-Eater appeared.
"Devon… My protagonist? Are you surprised?"
Nicolas Gilson walked closer. The man smiled broadly with narrowed eyes, looking at the husband, wife, and son in front of him.
"Do you realize what kind of crazy thing you're doing, Nicolas?!"
Devon raised his sword in a position, ready to do battle whenever needed.
Diana approached Devon and whispered softly.
"Honey… Legendary Man-Eater… He's in a state of Limit Break."
Devon was silent when he heard his wife's words. And the two of them both understood what the Limit Break meant. When the New Earth was still at tier 1, Breath users could only increase their level to 100. However, it differed from Yunatea, which was at tier 4. The difference was as far as the sky and the bottom of the ocean.
The Legendary Man-Eater in front of them was now at its own level without the limitation that worked on the New Earth. This was not just a small problem, but a big disaster.
It was only possible with the power of Sins. Both of them know it was the sin of Pride. A power that can warp a reality according to the user's will.
"My love, looks like it won't be easy to get out of this situation. I'll try my best to distract them. Please take Nathan away from this place." Devon muttered under his breath, his voice deep and calm.
"We have to ask for help, honey... They are not an opponent we can face." Diana hugged little Nathan's body tightly. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
The woman then took off the crescent-shaped silver necklace she was wearing. She gave it to the little boy in her arms. It was a gesture from a woman who had accepted that her death was all but near.
Devon saw his wife's actions from the corner of his eyes, and a deep, primal sense of fury and tragic helplessness washed over him.
In front of him, Nicolas started to crackle loudly once more.
"Devon… Devon… Devon… I never thought the day would come when I could see~ your frightened face when you see~ my presence like this. HAHAHA!"
There were dozens of humans with their respective weapons surrounding them. And of all, of course, the most terrifying thing was the demon that should not be present there.
"Do you think that you can meddle with this stupid thing and not pay the price, Nicolas? If you do, then you're a bigger fool than I give you credit for." Devon growled at Nicolas."
Nicolas lit the cigar in his mouth, took a deep breath, then exhaled.
"I think you know the answer yourself, don't you?"
Before Nicolas could finish his words, Devon's body shot from where he was standing and unleashed a massive sword slash at the man. But the Demon standing near the man threw the scythe he was holding and parried Devon's sword slash.
The Legendary Man-Eater repeatedly slashed his weapon. It only took a few seconds for the sharp object to penetrate the blond man's chest.
STAB!
The sharp edge of the scythe protruded from Devon's chest and caused a heart-breaking amount of blood to come out of the fatal wound.
Devon fell to the ground, facing his wife and children. He tried to reach out his hand, but there didn't seem to be anything else he could do. The man's body then fell helplessly, losing his life easily.
Diana, who was left in that place, still embraced little Nathan. She kept muttering quietly. A word that Nathan could no longer hear.
"Nathan… My boy, honey… My pride… I'm sorry, your Mom has failed to protect you. I'm sorry your Mom had to leave this responsibility to you. Don't think of this sacrifice as a loss. Because bigger things are at stake."
The incident that followed was Diana's body, which was thrown into the street by a hit by a sharp object.
Little Nathan, lying limply, gazed at the bodies of his two parents lying on the ground helplessly.
The little boy's scream then echoed, along with Nathan's adult consciousness, which later fainted.
Nathan then opened his eyes. He was back in his bedroom. His breath was blowing fast, with cold sweat covering his face and body.
"Mom! Dad!"
Anger and sadness mixed within him. Anger that seemed like he was about to vent at the right moment.
Nathan smacked his fist against the table, making a noise in the silence of the night. "Whoever it was, behind all of this!"
His anger was clearly visible in his eyes, which always looked sad. "I will make sure their lives will be in great agony!"