Odyssey of the Blind God

The Origin crystals around Nial were used up entirely and his [Mana Sense] was barely sustained with the mana which the Symbol of Life pulled toward him.

Nial was having a hard time keeping his parents' mana fluctuations locked and it seemed to work decently.

He released his dark energy and jumped from the shelter's central tower without hesitating for a second.

From the moment he had detected his parents, Nial's patience had disappeared into thin air. He didn't even want to waste his time riding the elevator which was why he resorted to jumping down from the more than 100 meters tall tower. Nial had attracted lots of attention due to this crazy act.

Many women screamed out in terror, while men looked at the suicidal jumper in shock. It had never occurred to them that someone would ever jump to death from the shelter's central tower.

Many civilians had instinctively closed their eyes in terror when Nial was about to smash into the ground. Everyone expected to hear a thumping sound but nothing like that happened. Rather, voices of shock and astonishment echoed through the plaza as Nial landed on the ground without breaking anything, whether it was the ground below him or his bones.

'My Dark energy control is really not that bad,' Nial thought with a faint smile on his lips.

He had released his dark energy through his legs and shot it to the ground where it was anchored. Afterward, the dark energy pushed against Nial's feet to resist gravity, thereby slowing down his falling speed until he landed safely.

The way he used the Dark energy was quite interesting and it was done purely on instinct. Nial used his whole strength to push his speed to the limit. He dashed through the central district, and jumped over the streets and buildings just to shorten the time he needed to reach his parents.

His actions attracted lots of attention, something which he had initially wanted to avoid. However, Nial was not able to think about running over with a low profile. The faster he reunited with his family the better.

Now that he thought about it, it had taken him way too long to meet his family again. It was frustrating and he felt guilty because he had not actively searched for them earlier. All these days, he had spent wondering what exactly must have happened to them, how they were doing, and what they had been doing the entire time they had been separated.

There were only a few months left before the two-year mark of their separation and Nial got emotional. Acting mature was not something he was very good at and he was getting way too anxious to see them again.

Tears trickled down the corner of his eyes the moment he arrived in the same alley as his parents were. He visualized them and Nial could immediately tell that they had aged a lot.

His mother especially had aged a lot. She looked very young before and barely had any wrinkles, which had now changed. Meanwhile, his father seemed to have had problems taking care of his beard. It had grown a lot and his eyes seemed as lifeless as Nial's.

This worried him a lot, which was why he took a step forward while trying to wipe off the tears streaming down his face. Nial didn't want his parents to see him crying like a small child, who had been abandoned.

All of a sudden, when Nial was about to take the second step toward his parents, his mother froze in place. She looked straight at Nial and as if the dam was finally broken, a flood of tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Maline…honey, what's wrong?" Miles asked the moment he saw that his wife broke down into tears. His eyes were filled with worry and he held her to prevent Maline from falling to the ground.

"N-Nial??" She asked quietly and sobbed miserably while stretching her hand out to reach for Nial. However, Miles' expression turned sad when their son was mentioned and he pulled his wife into his embrace to calm her.

"Honey, Nial is not here…." He said calmly without noticing that his voice was cut off and weak. There hadn't been a single day when they didn't think about their son. They hoped that he was fine without them and that he didn't need them to survive.

However, Nial had a disability, which made things difficult even if he had awoken his origin. Guilt and regret filled the hearts of Miles and Maline every single day but it was not like they could choose between Sabrina and Nial. They had been forced to leave, or to die…and they chose to live and to hope…

"Mom…" A miserable cry reverberated through the alley. Nial's weak voice that got drowned in his sobbing reached his parents. Miles turned around in shock only to see that…Nial was standing right in front of them.

He was crying while revealing the most beautiful smile Miles and Maline had ever seen.

Miles' sight blurred as his eyes turned moist as well. Maline shot toward Nial and fell on him with her entire weight. Nial could have remained standing on his feet with the use of some force but he didn't bother as he fell hard to the ground. He was still smiling while tears streamed down his cheeks.

His mother hugged him tightly, almost strangling him in her embrace. She was still not able to believe that Nial had appeared out of nowhere but she knew that she would never let him go again.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…my little baby…my boy…" Maline cried out while pulling him closer to her. Even if the world would break apart nothing could separate them anymore.

Nial's heart was beating frantically and he felt as if it would explode in happiness. He hugged his mother back and continued to cry his heart out. Miles appeared next to them and simply joined the hug as the three of them dissolved into tears.

They hugged each other tightly for several minutes without caring about the civilians, who were looking at the three crying Originals with confused expressions. One could clearly tell that they were a family and that they loved each other.

Nonetheless, it was weird because nobody was able to tell the reason for their miserable cries.

Many wanted to find out what was going on but they didn't stop crying and hugging each other even after ten minutes had passed.

Nial had no idea how much time passed before his tears finally ceased. He was happy and couldn't care less about the people in his surrounding. Only his parents were important to him and he finally got up from the ground when Miles pulled his mother away from him to give his son some space to move and breathe.

"Nial…is that really you?" Miles asked in a choked voice as he looked at his son. Nial's demeanor had changed completely, his physique had improved a lot and he had also gained some muscles. Miles was not even able to gauge how strong Nial had become.

"You are asking that now, after hugging me for 10 minutes? Dad, are you serious?" Nial asked jokingly. Maline began to giggle in response, while Miles pressed his lips together in a thin line while staring daggers at his son.

"Yeah, I guess it's you!" He mumbled while making sure that he kept his eyes on Nial.

'Just what did you encounter to change so much…were you ok after we were separated?' Miles wondered as he looked sadly at his son. He felt like a useless parent, who could only look at the exceptional growth of his wonderful son.

Miles bit his lips in frustration, while Maline kept caressing Nial's cheeks. She ran his hands through his entire body to make sure that he was unscathed and that his flawless skin was not hiding any scars.

Only when she didn't find anything worrisome did Maline calm down. Her heart was beating wildly and she couldn't believe her luck to be able to hold Nial's hand tightly after what felt like an eternity.

"What happened to you and dad after you were brought to the Heaven's Gates? How have you two been?" Nial suddenly asked with the same bright smile on his lips as before. He didn't really care about the Heaven's Gates organization right now.

The only thing of utmost importance, right at this moment, was his parents and their well-being!

"How do you know that?" Miles suddenly asked, his eyes widened in shock. He could tell that Nial had become much stronger than before but he would have never expected Nial to have gained some connections to find out about the Eclipse Assassins.

Maline noticed that Nial was aware of the Heaven's Gate organization as well but she couldn't care less about that.

"How did you find us? How have you been? Do you hate us?" She asked, holding Nial's hands tightly. She didn't want to let go of him anymore and tried her best to hide her intentions somehow.

However, this failed miserably because Nial noticed what she was doing. He was happy about it though.

"Maybe this is the wrong place to speak about the last two years? How about we eat something? You two look a bit haggard!" Nial said, sounding a bit concerned. He had visualized his parents in detail and except the non-existential growth of their mana core's rank, they looked as if they weren't eating a lot.

Nial wanted to ask about his sister as well but he chose to be a bit more patient and to wait until they would reach a quieter and less crowded place to discuss things.

"I would love to!" Maline exclaimed in joy, grabbing Nial's hand as if she was ready to go. Nial, however, did nto budge when he sensed something about Miles' mana fluctuations that worried him.

"Why are you so nervous all of a sudden, dad?" Nial asked, moments after he detected that something was wrong.

He spread out his range of perception in a swift motion and detected that something was off.

"N-nothing…I think…" Miles answered subconsciously while looking around him.

Miles was worried that something would happen and that someone would drag them away from Nial once again.

And as if they acted on cue, a total of six black-clothed men and women wearing masks appeared out of nowhere.

"Mr. and Mrs. Orin, you have to come with us," One of the women said in an emotionless voice.

"Noo!! We don't want to go back!" Maline screamed out while hugging Nial tightly. However, the masked woman didn't seem to allow any rebuttals as several icicles manifested around her.

"Either you come with us willingly, or we will use force," She warned coldly as her sky blue eyes stared in the depths of Maline's petrified eyes.

Maline began to shiver and she forced herself to let go of Nial, for his sake.

"W-we will come with you…just d-don't hurt him, okay?...Please…" Maline seemed truly scared of the woman in front of them. Nial was irked by this and he grasped his mother's hand to prevent her from moving away from him.

His touch calmed Maline as the Ankh's invigorating sensation spread over to her. Nonetheless, Maline's eyes grew wide in fear when she realized that Nial didn't want to let go of her anymore.

Maline teared up again and Miles clenched his fists and grit his teeth in frustration about his helplessness when he saw what happened.

"If he doesn't let go of you, I will consider him a threat, and I...Will...Kill… Him!" The masked woman enunciated the last four words clearly, leaving no room for doubt. Miranda began to shake her arm while trying to wiggle out of Nial's grasp but that seemed impossible.

"Aren't you guys from the Heaven's Gates organization?" Nial suddenly asked, his voice void of any respect. He sounded disgusted when he mentioned the organization's name.

"Pay attention to how you speak, brat! You should know when to give up. This is your last chance. Let go, or die!" The masked woman took a step forward and the five other masked men and women followed suit and simultaneously unsheathed their weapons.

"It looks like you guys don't care about fighting in the open. That's funny…but you should also know when it's time to retreat," Nial retorted with a sneer as he let go of his mother's arm before stretching his body a bit.

"You can come and try to kill me, bitch!" He laughed as a provoking smile appeared on his face.

"You're so dead!"