Chapter 439: The Past: Devan Part 2

Devan became a wandering soul after losing Lee to old age. He went from place to place, growing stronger every day. Unlike how the world was in the present day, back then, there was no such thing as a system. Strength was based on your own capabilities and had nothing to do with how high one's level was. But as Devan was a mix of both Demon and Nephilim, he was naturally strong from birth. 

He spent his days trying to fill the empty hole that was left behind after Lee had passed. After a few thousand years, Devan finally found himself on the Pleqoth continent. It was then that he ran into his first undead, a young girl around ten years of age that had died of an illness. Their meeting was a strange one and one that would be the start of Devan's new path in life.

It all happened when Devan wandered into a small section of Pleqoth that was painted black. The air was heavy with a strange sense of coldness, but to Devan, he felt like he was at home. He wandered around this area for many years until one day he found a strange blue, glowing pond that seemed to be the only color on this ink dyed background.  He sat upon its shores, looking out over it, feeling a slight sense of fulfillment but not enough to fill the void in his heart. 

It was then that a young girl came walking up. She seemed curious about the pond as she slowly made her way to the water's edge. Devan looked at her out of curiosity since all though she looked like a beastkin cat girl, she was a transparent blue color from head to toe. He watched as she stepped onto the lake's surface and walked out towards the middle. She seemed to find the place amusing as she began dancing. As she twist and turned, it looked as she finally realized someone else was there and stopped dancing, lowering her head in embarrassment. 

Devan did not say a word as the little girl walked towards him. She seemed to have become curious about this young man who was sitting on the lake's shore. She walked over to him and then around him, looking at him from all angles. "You're not dead?" The girl asked.

"As alive as one can be." Devan answered.

"Oh? I was alive once. But I died of an illness. My name is Ria. What's your name, big brother?" Ria asked. 

"Devan." Devan gave his name and said nothing else. He had not talked to anyone in such a long time that he felt it was slightly strange. During his journey, he did not go near anyone. It would have been on rare occasions that he would have someone call out to him. He never went to any cities during his journey as he searched for something to fill the hole he had inside him. 

Days and weeks went by, and the Devan found himself with another busy bee who seemed to like to hang around him. Ria would speak about this and that and ask Devan about his adventures. To Devan, he found Ria to be like himself, a lost soul.

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Present time mortal realm…

"So this is the forbidden forest?" Kiliffia asked as they stood at the entrance of a tree line that led to the pungent smelling swamp within.

"Yes, it is said that those who enter never return. Although I am a high god, there is no telling what may lay within that might have the power to do harm even to me, so we must be careful." Methie did not want to risk anything, especially when it came to his little wife.

"Mmm..." Kiliffia gripped the bag on her back as she stepped forward. She would be lying if she said she was not nervous. She looked at the tall trees that were blocking out the sun below with many vines hanging off its branches as she slowly entered the swamp. The ground was moist and squishy underfoot, unlike the dry land outside. The sounds of different kinds of monsters could be heard all around them. 

But no matter how she felt, she had to go inside in hopes of finding any traces of her father. This was her only clue, and she did not want to give up. With each step, she took she carefully scanned her surroundings, looking for any traces of people being within the swamp. But with how much time had passed, how densely packed the foliage was, and with how much time had passed since that time, it was a very slim chance that she would find such clues.

Without knowing just how many days had passed, Methie and Kiliffia came upon their first evidence of human life. It was a small dilapidated hut built out of vines, thin trees, and large leaves. Clenching her fist Kiliffia took a deep breath and pushed open the make shift door. Inside was dusty and filled with cobwebs. It smelt musty due to the dampness of the surroundings.  There was only a broken makeshift bed and a table. On the table, there was a single slab of wood just sitting there. It did not look out of the ordinary. But even so, Kiliffia picked it up to take a look at it. But what she saw made her eyes open wide.

"This..." Kiliffia's hands began shaking as she looked at the slab of wood. On both sides, there were words carved into it, and it was these words that caused Kiliffia's eyes to begin watering up. She did not know how much luck she used up to find this place out of such a large area, but she knew that even if she were to suffer from now on in the future that it was all worth it just to find this one single slab of wood. Because this slab of wood was the key to finding her father.

AN: There will be more coming! I do apologize for all the lack of bonus chapters. I will be making them up over the course of this week! So expect a lot of Kana!