There was only silence in the air.
A massive battle that destroyed a majority of the fortress just ended, but those who were contained within didn't show any emotion.
As Tyler, Synth, and Ash walked through the crowd and provided healing pills to the victims, they were only met with dull eyes and hopelessness.
'No, this is worse than hopelessness. They no longer have life in them even if they're alive.'
Hopelessness was a feeling akin to despair. The fact that it could be felt meant that the possibility of a spark of hope appearing still existed, since emotion still ran rampant within the mind.
But when even hopelessness was lost…
'They can't be saved.' Tyler realized.
Even if these people were saved, nothing would change. They wouldn't regain their minds. They'd been broken to that extent.
Ash shivered as she walked through the aisles of bodies.
Malnourished wasn't a strong enough word to describe their condition. They were practically hanging onto life by a thread, a thread the Nox created to forcefully keep them in the land of the living.
And perhaps the lack of proper nutrition was the least of their problems. It was rarer to see an unblemished body than one covered in scars in this place.
The wounds on their bodies were rarely healed properly. Scar tissue and disgusting infected gashes painted their bodies in an atrocious yellow color.
Was this reality?
Was reality always so cruel?
The cruelty of war was something veterans spoke of constantly. It was something that was drilled into the heads of everyone who was bound to experience it.
War was never painted as something grand to these Hell Hole soldiers.
But this was a different level.
The Nox were inhumane to say the least. They didn't care about respect or integrity, they didn't care about the universe's perception of what should and shouldn't be done.
They exercised cruelty by whatever means possible, their only goal to bring ruination to the land of existence.
Damien and Zara landed on the ground nearby and watched the geniuses quietly as they tried to cope with the truth they'd been faced with.
Tyler was the calmest. His rational brain long told him that the possibility of something like this existed, but he consciously chose to ignore it in favor of his mental well-being.
Now that reality was in front of him, he sighed and faced it head-on.
Synth was much fiercer. She had a fiery personality from the start, and the moment she became aware of the suffering these people must've gone through, her temper exploded.
It was only due to the solemn atmosphere that she kept her mouth shut. But from the way her fists clenched so hard she drew blood from her palms, her feelings were evident.
Of the three, Ash had the most severe reaction.
From the beginning, she was a reserved person. She could be called the "innocent" one in the group despite her ferocity in combat.
Reality hit her like a hammer. She stumbled as she walked, her face incredibly pale from what she witnessed. It looked like she was barely holding herself together.
But she still did her best to try.
Perhaps the atrocities that had already taken place were impossible to reverse, but the purpose of the Hell Hole and the soldiers it raised was to make sure future atrocities could be prevented.
Despite her own fears, Ash ingrained the image of these suffering people into her mind so she'd never forget it.
While the three did what they could, Damien walked through the crowded streets and gathered the bodies of the dead, piling them up in the center of the ruined city.
Their corpses formed a hill that almost reached the top of the fortress walls.
Looking at the hill of corpses, he sighed lightly.
'I sincerely hope fate gives you bliss in your next lives.'
Void Flames sparked on his fingers. As he flicked them, the small spark of flame fell into the hill of corpses and set it ablaze.
The silence was interrupted by the sound of flickering flames. The putrid stench of the burning corpses spread through the city and attracted the attention of all those present.
Even within the dull eyes of the survivors, a small trace of sorrow could be seen.
But it was accompanied by a trace of relief.
Their friends and families who died, perhaps their fates were for the better. At least they didn't end up as meals for the Nox, and at least their suffering finally came to an end.
At least they wouldn't have to endure the terror of living on.
***
"What should we do with them?" Tyler asked after the deceased were properly sent off.
Damien looked over at the survivors with furrowed brows. "That depends. In our current situation, we can't necessarily save them. That would only be possible after our mission ends."
"Then…"
"But that's under the assumption that they want to be saved."
Tyler looked at Damien hesitantly. "You don't mean…"
"It's probably what you think."
"But…wouldn't it be better to provide them a new lease on life? What if they realize in the future that living on was better than dying futilely?"
Damien sighed. Indeed, it was normal to think that way. He had personal experience that told him that living was better than dying without accomplishing anything. If he'd succumbed to the First Dungeon long ago, he would've simply become another statistic on earth, never to reach his current heights.
But at the same time, he couldn't force his own experience onto others.
At the end of the day, it was only his opinion or Tyler's opinion that said living was the best course of action for them.
If they wished for death, however, who was he to deprive them of it?
To live and create a future where life was better than death, one needed to have the desire to do so. Without that desire, the realization of this fact would simply never appear.
With that thought in mind, Damien walked over to the survivors who had been gathered together in the city center.
"I will offer you two choices," he said, infusing mana in his voice so his words couldn't go unheard.
"The first is death. If you wish for the comfort of death, I will grant it to you. If this world is not one you wish to live in anymore, then that is your decision. You will not be judged, and you will not feel pain. Eternal rest is likely a more appropriate term in this scenario."
His eyes panned across the crowd. It wasn't just a few who reacted to his proposition.
"The second choice is survival. Survive and live, overcome your circumstances and earn your happiness back. The road to doing so will be arduous, there will be countless times when you wish you chose to die today, but if you can truly utilize the life you earned yourself, then the prospect of normalcy won't be hidden from you. Perhaps you may even come to cherish your pain, for without it, you would've never become the person you became when you overcame it."
He didn't try to butter his words or speak lightly. He didn't try to promote one option or the other. He laid out the facts as they were, indifferent to his impact on these people's decisions.
He wasn't some hero. He wasn't someone who could provide uplifting words that allowed people to gain the will to live.
He knew the responsibility that came with that position. If these people chose to live based on his words alone, if they found that life didn't improve how he promised, their worship would turn to hatred in an instant.
He had no desire to bear the weight of their feelings, whether it be grudge or gratitude.
"I will come back tomorrow to hear your decisions. Remember, your life is your own. Do not feel ashamed regardless of what choice you make. There is more pride in following your heart than following the crowd."
With those final words, Damien teleported away, disappearing from the crowd's view entirely.
What was left was a silent atmosphere that hadn't changed.
But within the dull eyes of those people, various emotions began to rise.
