Chapter 469 — Followers

Damian’s heart kept hammering against his ribs, each beat louder than the last, the sound roaring in his ears.

’Calm down... Just calm down...’

He forced himself to breathe slower, deeper, trying to steady the pulse threatening to tear through his chest.

After some time, his lips moved silently, testing the weight of two words.

’Blood... worth.’

The name suddenly felt different on his tongue, heavier than it had moments before.

Before he could pursue the thought further, Agatha’s voice cut through the wind.

"After that battle, Desiderius gained followers from across the world."

She stood beside the statue, her hand still resting on the state’s base.

"They flocked to him, begged to fight under his command, and wanted to be part of something that actually mattered."

Her voice carried across the mountaintop.

"Years passed, and when the world was finally free of monsters, when all the Monster races had been driven back through the portals and humanity could breathe without constant fear..."

She paused, looking out over the mountain range stretching endlessly ahead.

"There were many SS rank awakeners among Desiderius Bloodworth’s followers. Warriors who’d climbed to the peak of human power through endless battles, through struggle and loss and refusing to break."

’SS rank followers... Don’t tell me–’

Damian listened as his mind worked.

"But constant fighting had taken a toll on all of them. Each one had lost so much in the struggle for humanity’s survival. Friends, comrades, people they’d loved and pieces of themselves they’d never get back."

Agatha’s grip tightened on her walking stick.

"And now all of them were starting to get tired... They’d won, but victor felt hollow when there was nothing for them except more fighting. They wanted to start their own families, to finally find some warmth and love after decades of nothing but blood and death."

The wind picked up, carrying snow across the peak.

"You see, when they had nothing to lose, all of them went into battles without even a single thought about what waited on the other side of this mountain range."

Her hand gestured toward the darkness beyond.

"But when it came time to establish their families, when they had something precious to protect instead of just their own lives..."

She stopped, her voice becoming quieter.

"Not one of those SS rank awakeners wanted to establish their family in the north."

Damian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"The risk was just too much. Establishing your bloodline in a region where so many high-rank portals had opened, where the strongest monsters concentrated, where death could come at any moment..."

Agatha shook her head slowly.

"So all of them left the north, one by one, to establish their families in safer parts of the world."

Her voice became flat, reciting history like it was a list of names on a grave marker.

"The families established by those SS rank followers became known as the Imperial families and the families established by the S rank became known as the Noble families."

’Wait...’

Damian’s mind went rigid, pieces clicking together with terrible clarity.

He already knew where this was going, but...

’All of them? Every single Imperial family was founded by someone who followed my grandfather?’

His hands trembled, rage building in his chest like pressure behind a dam.

’So all these arrogant Imperial families, all these people who act like they’re better than everyone else... They were just followers of my grandfather? People who owed everything they had to that man?’

The implications kept spreading, each one worse than the last.

’And in the end, they were the ones who massacred him and his entire family?!’

His breathing became ragged, fists clenching tighter.

’Why?! Just... why?!’

The question burned in his mind with intensity that made everything else fade.

’What could possibly justify that?! What reason could there be for destroying the family of a man who had saved them?!’

Agatha continued, unaware of the storm building behind Damian’s carefully controlled expression.

"The central region became home to the Murdock, Evergreen, and Royce families."

’Royce.’

Damian’s mind latched onto the name with cold fury.

"The southern region became home to the Cross, Ashford, and Thorne families. The western region became home to the Kinsley and Vance families."

Her voice carried across the wind.

"And the eastern region became home to the Eckhart, Verratoux, Blackwood, and Langsten families."

Every name hit like a brand being pressed into his memory.

Families he’d encountered at many places in the past year, families whose children walked around like they owned the world, families whose patriarchs had attended his birth celebration.

All of them built on foundations laid by following his grandfather into battle.

"Only Desiderius and some of his followers never left the north."

Agatha turned to look out over the mountain range, her expression distant.

"They established their families on the other side of this range, in the most dangerous region, where the highest ranked portals still opened regularly."

"..."

Nobody spoke for several heartbeats.

’Even if they wanted to protect the north, why not establish their estates behind the mountain range? Why put your loved ones in constant danger?’

Damian stared at the statue with a complex look in his eyes, more and more questions forming in his mind.

The wind carried snow between them, the only sound on the silent peak.

"That was how the legend of the Bloodworth family started."

Agatha’s voice became softer, carrying something like grief.

"Years passed and the children and grandchildren of Desiderius all had their own legendary feats. Stories that spread across the Federation, accomplishments that made their name synonymous with strength and sacrifice."

She paused, her hand rising to rest on Damian’s shoulder.

"But sadly, whoever was about to break through to SS rank was assassinated or killed by the chosen ones of the top races."

Her grip tightened slightly.

"According to the Sage, all the top seers and oracles of other races were involved in creating these situations. They manipulated events, orchestrated portal breaks, arranged ambushes disguised as accidents."

Damian’s breathing stopped completely.

"No one wanted to see another Desiderius Bloodworth rise. No one wanted humanity to have another leader who could unite people the way he had."

"..."

Silence fell across the peak as nobody spoke for several heartbeats.