BXBX NOVEL Chapter 83: The Secret of the Red Flame (1)
“He’s been beaten up again.”
It couldn’t be, though. The fight with James Chester had an intense impact on his classmates and would function as a warning. Besides, the Green Dragon situation was enough to change most people’s minds about the kind of student Klinssman was. He faced an A-class monster with a sword…that had not been forgotten. His classmates had observed the feat through CCTV footage – following that, most of his peers were amazed.
Finally, Kang Min-hyuk’s vision joined him in the room, confirming his location as a hostel and revealing the source of his pain.
“…What are these wounds?”
It was shocking. Klinssman’s body wasn’t normal; his flesh was patterned with wounds – some still large and unhealed. Around a bandage, blood stained his skin, and the pain stemming from that particular area was enough to make him wince. He loosened the bandage a little and checked what was hidden beneath.
It was a monster wound. Kang Min-hyuk was sure of it. A monster had hit Klinssman. Medical magic seemed to have healed the initial problem, but the wound’s traces did not disappear. They must have been terrible upon their infliction.
“What has happened since I was last here?”
Klinssman’s Danjeon held more mana than expected. The accumulation of ten mana within a month would be considered a good number, but Klinssman had reached a whopping thirty. The word genius couldn’t encapsulate the progress. It went beyond that.
Klinssman’s hands were covered in hard calluses. To reach that level in just a month, Klinssman’s training regime must have been extremely dangerous. Only he knew the answers. Kang Min-hyuk’s gaze turned to the diary on the desk. He turned the page.
[It’s really good to be getting stronger. The guardian sentiment and guardian swordsmanship techniques you taught me are making me feel alive. However, we cannot be satisfied with the current growth rate. The Royal Academy of Magic wasn’t a good environment for an assassin to find himself, so I had to choose.]
The only way for a swordsman to gain strength was on the battlefield. The practical expertise that could be developed there was nourishing for an assassin.
[I moved over the barriers every day after my academy class and fought to become stronger.]
“Over the barrier..?” Min-hyuk thought.
His prediction was correct: Klinssman’s choice was the battlefield, but going beyond the barrier was an unexpected twist.
The barrier represented the boundary between Monster Land and the human world. It was located far from England and was infested with monsters – a wasteland where human life could not thrive. In short: it was the closest place to Hell you could imagine. Kang Min-hyuk found the details difficult to accept. His thoughts shot around his skull too quickly for him to view them close-up.
[Every day, at a fixed time, a portal will open to give access through the barrier. I will not force you to go over the barrier for me. But what is certain is the time there is a shortcut that makes me strong. Even if my body dies, it will not affect you. My soul will perish, but it is the law of this world that you should return to your original body. If you cross the barrier, you will meet the ‘Abyss Devil.’ I bet it will be a valuable experience for you too. The Devil of the Abyss is a disaster that you have not experienced in your world. Not many have experienced it here, either..]
The moment Kang Min-hyuk tries to turn the next page.
Hwaak-!
A bright light arose inside the hostel. Surprisingly, the portal that Klinssman mentioned manifested right there.
* * *
The portal was baffling. Even in Klinssman’s world, space-magic was exclusive to archmages, but there it was – a portal before his very eyes, and beyond, a land of monsters awaited him.
Klinssman’s sorcery skills were not sufficient to form a portal. Again, the same old question resurfaced: “who are you, Klinssman?” Kang Min-hyuk surmised that the portal-generator must have been an enigmatic figure from Klinssman’s background – a wizard with great power. Who could it be?
Magic was still deemed an unknown realm, even in Klinssman’s world. The origins of the portal were a mystery…it didn’t matter how much Kang Min-hyuk worried, the answer would elude him. In the end, all that remained was a choice. The Devil of the Abyss…
He recalled Klinssman mentioning the monster in the early days.
[…I used to think that magic was all about the power of this world. When I was fighting monsters with swords, the appearance of the chosen ones flapping their robes and using magic was very shocking. But now I have a new way too. I will become strong through the deep law of the guardian gate, and I will eradicate all the demons of the abyss.]
He’d read it in Klinssman’s diary. At first, Min-hyuk thought the Abyss Demon was a simple monster, but the puzzle pieces had been scattered, and its intended shape could only be guessed at.
Was it necessary to cross the barrier and step through the portal? Kang Min-hyuk had many questions for Klinssman and his helpers. He also didn’t believe that Klinssman’s death would not affect his spirit.
“If this is what you want, Klinssman, I’m happy to pay you back for all you’ve done for me.”
The only person Kang Min-hyuk would raise his sword for was Klinss. He stepped through the portal and was devoured by the bright light that pooled out and drew him in.
* * *
The surrounding landscape changed. A densely wooded forest, untouched by sunlight, spread out before him. The dark was so deep that adrenaline immediately rushed into his nervous system. A stuffy, damp aroma crept into his nostrils, and the silence was thick and eerie. There was no trace of humanity as far as he could see.
“Have I really crossed the barrier?”
The division of the land between human and monsters had occurred a long time ago. The unknown world beyond the barrier had been quarantined, and the number of monsters inhabiting it was unknown. Estimates stated hundreds of millions. Before the Gate phenomenon, monsters didn’t escape their land, but for whatever reason, there came the point where they periodically attacked the wall as a unified force. Some say it was caused by a dimensional rift, while others believed the overflow occurred because there were just too many monsters crammed into too small a surface area.
Kang Min-hyuk gulped air into his dry throat. He tried to be vigilant and dispel his fear.
Sasak!
Something was approaching, rustling through the bushes. The sound was slight at first, but suddenly, the bush began to shake violently.
Sasasasak-!
“Come out!”
Guoak.
He clasped his sword tight. He didn’t know what it was, but he could tell that his scent had reached its senses; his senses heightened in response. The moment the strange creature popped out of the tumultuous foliage, Kang Min-hyuk raised aura from his sword.
“…Owl-bear?!”
Owlbear was a very rare Class-A monster – its destructive power placed it within the higher ranks of the classification.
Blast furnace!
Caang-!
Rumble.
“Wow.”
Kang Min-hyuk was pushed back by Owl-Bear’s forefoot attack. However, this was not the only problem. The grass next to it began to quiver, and as if waiting, another Owl-Bear appeared and attacked Kang Min-hyuk.
Ahhh!
Caen!
Kang Min-hyuk overcame Owl-bear’s paw attack with a sword and cut through its outer shell right away, but even with the power of Aura, he could not cut the outer shell deeply. How much blood could a mere scratch produce? As soon as he fell into confusion, both Owl-bears attacked simultaneously.
Caang!
Kakakakang!
His stomach vibrated. Kang Min-hyuk was insanely pushed back by Owl-Bear’s attack. Its owlish face opened bizarrely, and its head rotated all the way around and tried to bite Kang Min-hyuk. It was a daunting scene. Despite the crackling snout right in front of his eyes, Kang Min-hyuk calmly defended against all of Owl-bear’s attacks with a subdued expression.
Rumble.
Quaang!
Ahhh!
As his aura raised momentarily, he pushed Owl-bear back, cracking its hard outer-skin. It groaned in pain as Min-hyuk’s sword glinted.
‘Annihilation.’
It was the secret of the guardian gate. The technique strengthened the aura’s power so that a single blow could defeat the enemy. A method that was not available for Kang Min-hyuk in reality emerged, and a burning aura cut through the neck of Owlbear. Its neck cracked, its face fell to the floor, and red blood splattered everywhere.
Ahhhhhh!
Blood spattered down like rain. The second Owl-bear rushed in, and after a fierce battle ensued, Kang Min-hyuk slashed through its throat, removing its head. The battle with two Class-A monsters proved to Kang Min-hyuk that Klinssman’s body was so much stronger than before. It was astonishing. The life-threatening training was clearly having quite an effect.
Min-hyuk expected to be exhausted after the ferocity of the battle, but his mana was restored quickly. In fact, the absolute amount of mana appeared to have increased. It was incomprehensible. He didn’t just attain his strength on the battlefield; it was a literal, all-encompassing growth. Kang Min-hyuk wanted to know how it had happened, but it wasn’t the time for questions.
He was in the land of monsters. He was bleeding. The scent of his blood lured the beasts in – as he heard them flocking toward him, the questions fell from his thoughts, and all that he could think about was survival.