God Class Awakening: Ascension of the Demon Hunter-Chapter 32: The Prison Realm

"Orland, the monsters are terrible this season. No one is surviving out here in the open."

"That still isn’t a good reason for you to use my cart to pick up strangers."

"Oh Orland, you don’t expect me to leave them to die? They are still children, for crying out loud."

The bulky and grumpy old man had a frown on his face as he heard his wife’s words. They had been married for over fifty years, and they still got into fights because of the things his wife did.

Milla, his wife, had a very good heart; too good for her own good, he would always say.

And right now, that good heart was causing a dispute between the old couple.

"Children? They may be demons for all we know." He let out a sigh then continued, "The cart doesn’t have enough room for two extra people, Milla. We don’t have food for two extra people."

On their way through the Sohun Wilderness, a vast desert, they had come across a boy and a girl buried in the sand. They couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old. Milla, as usual, had compassion when she saw them holding each other.

Her resolve to save them increased when she found out that they weren’t dead, just unconscious.

But Orland wasn’t having it. They had been forced to leave their small town because of a severe increase in monster population, and right now... things weren’t looking good.

As people who were born and brought up in the prison realm, things had never looked good. Even though this was the lowest level of the prison realm, it was still a challenge to survive, especially during these times when the demons had become more rampant.

Most towns would be destroyed, and only the cities in the inner parts of the level would stand.

If they couldn’t get to the city in time, they would end up dead.

Also, having two extra mouths to feed on this journey wouldn’t fit into the budget. So he told her they would have to leave the two kids for dead.

There was a silence, as the two stared at each other. Milla knew their situations, but even then she was still unwilling to see such young lives lost. From the looks of things though, there was nothing she could do.

"Up north," Orland said after remembering something. "There’s a small town there. We’ll take both of them and drop them there, that’s the most I can do."

Milla seemed to remember the town up north too, as a wide smile blossomed on her face. "Oh, Orland, you’re the sweetest. I knew you’d come up with something."

A small smile appeared on her husband’s face, but he tried his best to hide it.

In truth, he had nothing against his wife being extra kind; he just didn’t want others taking advantage of her.

With his muscular arms, he grabbed the boy and put him in the cart. The boy was a bit skinny and his black hair was overgrown. The girl, on the other hand, was wearing an oversized military uniform, and although she looked young, she had a stern expression on her face that didn’t represent her age.

The girl didn’t have any injuries, so Orland assumed that the boy had been protecting the girl. They must be siblings, he thought.

After they both got into the cart, he changed the direction of the camels and headed to the town up north.

...

Vale slowly regained consciousness as he found himself in a pile of supplies. After blinking a few times he was able to grasp the situation. He seemed to be in some sort of supply cabin and they were moving. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

He tried shifting, but he realised there was something atop of him, or rather someone.

The person was unconscious but Vale still had a good look at them. The girl currently lying on his chest was an exact copy of Athena, except for her red hair.

Could this be... Athena?

If not for the fact that the person before him didn’t look older than himself he wouldn’t have questioned it. But even if it was her, what in the world had made her grow younger?

Or did I go back in time?

That didn’t explain it though, as he was still the same. He thought for a while but couldn’t come up with an exact solution. In the end, he resolved to ask her when she woke up. Right now, there were more important matters to attend to, and the most important of them was figuring out where the hell he was.

Before he could brainstorm any further, the cart came to a stop, and a knocking sound reverberated on its wall. "You up, kid?" A voice asked with a lot of bass.

"Hmm," Vale replied instinctively. At the same time, Roxy, who seemed more asleep than unconscious, buried her head even further into Vale’s chest. His heart rate spiked as he wasn’t used to having a girl get so touchy with him.

"Get down then." Orland had heard some movement in the cart and figured they were awake. Since they had already arrived at the town, he wanted to drop off the kids and continue his journey as soon as possible. If he were to waste any more time, who knew the horrors he might encounter? This was the prison realm, anything could happen at any time.

Vale crawled out of the vehicle, and Roxy was still glued to him. He had tried to escape her grasp, but her grip was stronger than expected.

Even now that he was out of the cramped space and standing on the hot sand, she still clung to him.

He could only silently pray that she would wake up soon.

"It’s good that both of you are okay," a friendly woman’s voice said, prompting Vale to turn.

It was a short, old lady with a wrinkled face. Behind her stood a man that Vale guessed to be her husband. He was also old and more muscular than any aged person should be.

The man seemed to be in a hurry, while the lady was concerned.

She explained how they had found both of them in the sand and rescued them. This made Vale wonder where exactly that rift had thrown them.

"Sorry, but where is this?" Vale cut her off, unable to hold his curiosity.

The woman had a surprised look on her face. "You don’t know?"

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be asking that if I knew.

Vale just shook his head.

The woman then replied with her arms outstretched, "Well, this is the Prison Realm."

For a moment, he wanted to believe that his ears deceived him, but his brain told him otherwise.

"Prison realm?" He asked.

"Yes, you heard that right." She still had that friendly smile on her face as she spoke.

Vale’s eyes widened the moment she confirmed it. "Oh no."

[Small Infinity—New Arc Begins.]