E-Rank or SSS-Rank: I Awakened a Skill That Shouldn't Exist-Chapter 304: Unknown History

Chapter 304: Unknown History

The vision changed again.

He could see Ron.

Pierced by countless metallic spears.

Gaping wounds tearing through his body.

Standing there with his warhammer clutched in both hands.

Still upright.

Still strong.

Eyes closed.

A small, broken smile on his face.

Han’s heart felt like it shattered all over again.

Ron.

Ron was his first friend, his rival, his brother.

He died because of Han.

To save Laura, he sacrificed his own life.

"I am sorry, Ron," Han thought as his chest tightened.

That memory was the trigger.

Everything else snapped into place with brutal, blinding speed.

The last thing Han remembered before the purple eyed Knull attacked him and Lightrunner resurfaced in full.

"Wait... did it really kill me? Am I dead now?" Han wondered.

Then a rumble echoed.

A loud one.

Like a growling stomach.

The dead do not get hungry.

Han froze.

The rumbling was not from him.

It was from someone else.

The familiar sensation of a mind link brushed across his thoughts and everything clicked.

He was not dead.

The others might still be alive too.

Han accepted the mind link and immediately heard Aiden’s voice echo inside his head.

"Hey dude, are we dead? Did we end up in the same hell together?"

Han chuckled.

"And what makes you think this is hell and not the other place?"

Aiden scoffed.

"Please. With how many people you have killed, you will be lucky if they send you to the eighth stage of hell instead of the ninth."

Han’s eyebrow would have twitched if he could move at all.

"And what about you? What stage will you be on if I am stuck in the ninth?"

"Awkward," Aiden said. "Considering I have also killed a lot of people, although only the ones who deserved it, I should probably be in the first or second stage. But I will be out soon while you stay here alone."

Aiden’s loud laugh echoed through the link.

Han sighed.

Even in a situation like this, Aiden did not lose his humor.

That was a good sign.

But Han had something more important to confirm.

If the mind link worked, if someone’s stomach was rumbling, then that meant they were alive. Not dead.

Probably imprisoned.

He needed to see.

Han activated his cloning skill.

A clone appeared in front of him. He switched his perception into the clone’s body and the world snapped into view.

His eyes widened.

They were imprisoned, but not in any normal way.

Each of them had their entire bodies buried deep into the rocky walls. Like living statues. Only their heads stuck out, and even those were covered with heavy metallic dark plating that blinded them completely. Their limbs were frozen inside the stone. They could not move a single muscle.

It was insane.

A prison only a twisted mind could create.

Han turned his clone to look around.

His heart nearly stopped.

Because the sight below was worse than being turned into a living statue.

Right beneath the jagged edge of their prison, descending endlessly under them, was a spiraling abyss. A black, twisting spiral that feels as if it is alive.

It looked like a mini black hole.

Just looking at it was enough to fill Han with overwhelming dread. The kind of dread that pressed against his lungs and made breathing feel optional.

Every instinct screamed that getting even a little closer to that spiral meant instant death for him and everyone else imprisoned here.

Han let out a silent curse.

Are those damn Knull crazy?

Is this their idea of a prison?

Do they want their prisoners dead?

Well, they probably do, Han thought bitterly.

"Hey Han, what is on the other side?" Aiden asked through the mind link. "Is it pretty?"

Han nodded. "Yes. It is. But you will wish you never see it."

Aiden went quiet.

He could not understand why something being beautiful was a bad thing. Why would Han say that? Why would he sound annoyed? Why—

Han ignored him. He had bigger problems.

He looked around again. Aside from the jagged ledge, the twisted walls, and the black hole beneath them, there was not much else.

Just strange writings etched everywhere in symbols he did not recognize. There were also drawings of monsters. Not just Knull. Red giants. Black goblins. Beasts he had never seen before.

They were many.

They were fighting a smaller group of figures.

Humans?

They looked human enough.

But every single one of them had white hair.

Are they a family? Han wondered. A bloodline? A clan?

What shocked him even more was the end of the drawings. Despite the monsters outnumbering the white haired warriors by an absurd margin, the humans were the ones slaughtering the beasts. Only a few monster races survived.

Knull were one of the survivors.

Han raised an eyebrow.

There was some kind of history here.

History no one ever talked about.

None of this appeared in textbooks or guild records. None of it existed in any known archive.

He could not make sense of it from the drawings alone, so he activated Analyzer Eye to read the writings.

The result made his jaw drop.

Error.

Error.

Host is too weak to decipher these messages.

Han sighed.

Even with all his current power, he was still considered too weak.

How strong did he need to be to read them?

What stage? What level? What realm?

Before the frustration settled, another loud stomach rumble echoed across the prison. Louder this time. Strong enough to vibrate the stone walls.

Han’s clone turned toward the sound.

His eye twitched.

He really thought it was Aiden.

But no.

The culprit was right near the edge of the wall.

White and gold suit.

White messy hair.

A stomach that growled like a starving beast.

Lightrunner.

It seems he was alive too.

Han checked again.

Almost all of them were alive, though only a few were strong enough to maintain a mind link.

"Hey, young hero, are we dead or still alive?" Lightrunner asked the moment he sensed the link.

Han looked at the stunning hero, even though the metal plating covering his eyes hid everything.

"We are still alive," Han answered.

For a while the older hero said nothing. Then Lightrunner chuckled.

"Told you. Told you we would be spared if we surrendered. Well, maybe spared is the wrong word. At least we get a few more hours of life. Although I would prefer not to spend those hours trapped here unable to see anything."

Han did not respond. He looked at the others. Some were so still they looked dead, but their faint breathing told Han they were alive. Barely.

The one in the worst condition was Clara.

Han’s breath caught.

Even though Clara had the mildest injuries physically, she was the most critical. Her body constitution was the weakest among them. She was never built for this kind of punishment.

"Hopefully she survives," Han thought.

His gaze moved over the rest of the Suicide Cahoot. Then he saw a figure near Lightrunner. Black shirt. Black hair. A heavy killing aura coiled around him even while immobilized.

Ronan.

Awake.

Han felt a spark of hope. Maybe he could ask Ronan a few things. Maybe together they could build a strategy.

He prepared to open a mind link.

Then he froze.

He dissolved the clone instantly and returned to his real body. The suffocating darkness pressed in again like a living weight.

Aiden and Lightrunner, still connected to him through the mind link, spoke in hushed tones even though the mind space did not require whispering.

"What happened?"

"What is wrong?"

Han’s reply came cold and quick.

"They are here."

The large black metallic door swung open. Several Knull marched in. More platforms rose from the abyss and carried the Knull toward the wall prison without letting them fall.

The first Knull pressed its palm to the stone.

The wall trembled.

The paralysis vanished instantly. Han and the others could move again.

That freedom lasted only a heartbeat.

Heavy collars snapped onto their necks.

Thick cuffs clamped around their wrists and ankles.

Every ounce of strength vanished with them.

"Wait, are we their prisoners now?" Aiden yelled through the mind space.

He paused, then corrected himself.

"Oh. Of course we are their prisoners. But is this not too much? Why are we being treated like slaves!"

Han sighed.

Lightrunner chuckled.

Aiden was about to rant again when Han cut in.

"Aiden, spend your energy thinking about how we get out of here or what your last prayer is going to be. Because I feel like the time is getting close."

Aiden went silent.

The group was transported somewhere. Han could not see anything. Their eyes were still covered. But he tried to calculate every movement, every sound, every vibration. Anything that might help them escape.

His thoughts almost found a trail when the movement stopped.

A massive door swung open.

They were dragged inside.

One by one, they were forced to their knees.

Then the metal plates over their faces lifted.

Han finally saw.

They were inside a huge chamber. Beautiful yet eerie. Like a majestic palace twisted by some corrupt force. The space felt wrong. The geometry did not obey normal rules. The air felt frozen and crowded yet empty at the same time.

At the far end, on a raised altar, stood eight mighty Knull. Four on each side of a white throne. Their purple eyes glowed with savage intensity.

But none of them held Han’s attention.

The figure sitting on the throne did.

Golden skeletal face.

Four glowing red eyes.

A pressure that crushed the air itself.

The system screamed in Han’s mind.

Warning.

Danger.

Danger.

Danger.

Han’s face darkened as he looked at the throne.

"So that is him," Han thought.

"That is this world’s portal boss."

TO BE CONTINUED...