Chapter 46: Hellscape Island (11)
I looked down into the pit where I had pushed Lina.
“…”
Even with the moonlight directly overhead, the depths below remained invisible.
‘That fall would’ve killed her. She was practically dead the mont I pulled out the spear anyway.’
Having pierced a vital spot, there was no chance she’d survive.
After confirming, I turned to leave the fortress.
‘But what’s that ominous presence I feel down there? It’s not hers…’
As I entered the fortress, I glimpsed the Hydra outside the barrier.
True to its reputation as a legendary beast, its size was truly intimidating.
Yet, despite facing the Hydra head-on, the unseen pit bothered more.
I couldn’t pinpoint why, but my instincts were screaming.
‘Let’s not peer into that deep abyss.’
Though I loved adventure, I wasn’t reckless.
Even when walking a tightrope, I always planned for what ca next.
Thus, I dealt with Lina and left the fortress.
Just then, I ran into instructors approaching the area.
“Evan! You!”
As expected, the instructors rushed over, alard.
“How did you get to the central area alone?”
“I ca to catch an escaped prisoner.”
They noticed the blood-stained spear.
“Did you get her?”
“Yes. I executed her on the spot. The situation didn’t allow otherwise.”
“…Well done.”
Seeing unscathed, the instructors sighed in relief.
‘He took down that mage in one strike? His skill is undeniable.’
With the task complete, they had nothing left to do.
“Let’s go. The others at the fortress will be worried.”
“Yes.”
We turned toward Bentram Fortress.
On the way, I asked sothing that had been nagging .
“By the way, what’s that place? It looks like a fortress too.”
The response was vague, as the instructors themselves didn’t know much.
“No idea. I don’t know when it was built or why it’s here.”
“No records at all?”
“None. It’s said Ernst created the barrier to seal sothing in the island’s center, but no one knows what. That fortress is in the central area, but whether it’s the sealed thing is unclear. Other fortresses lack records too.”
“But monsters didn’t build them, right?”
At my obvious statent, the instructors nodded in unison.
They agreed but had no further answers.
“All I can say is there’s nothing known about it. The records might be lost.”
“Hm…”
This island’s identity was a mystery.
My curiosity about Hellscape Island intensified.
‘No records? Unless soone hid them. This isn’t so uninhabited island the kingdom ignored.’
The fortresses clearly bore human craftsmanship.
So even had nas.
Yet no one knew their origins?
And that eerie hole in the abandoned fortress—was it just there by chance?
Hellscape Island was full of suspicious elents.
“What’s the deal with the Hydra? You’re not saying you don’t know that too, right?”
“Honestly, I don’t know much. From what I’ve heard, it was relocated by a great mage long ago…”
Nell began a brief history lesson.
The conclusion was that one person turned this island into a monster exile.
“That’s impressive. Even the Empire’s renowned mages couldn’t do that.”
“How do you know about the Empire?”
A flash of old mories hit , and I quickly changed the subject.
“Oh, I read it in a book.”
“You studied Empire history? You?”
My academic performance was abysmal, unlike my physical skills.
Nell chuckled at the idea of studying Empire history.
“I know you’re a noble’s son. But to care more about a foreign country’s history than ours?”
“It’s just sothing I ca across. But why choose this island to corral monsters? The kingdom has plenty of islands.”
I threw out a question to flaunt kingdom knowledge.
“No idea. Maybe it was Ernst’s whim. Or the late king’s will.”
“They didn’t leave any word about this island, did they?”
“No. Now that you ntion it, I’m curious too. Is there so secret here?”
“Hm.”
Hearing this, I fell into thought.
“Mass monster migration, periodic human visits, and this barrier. What is this…”
But I couldn’t grasp the island’s true secret.
Carrying more questions, I returned to the fortress with the instructors.
***
After a chaotic night, dawn broke.
“Yawn~”
Weeks had passed since arriving, but waking early still didn’t co naturally.
I yawned widely as I stepped into the clearing.
The instructors surrounded the clearing,
and the cadets gathered within it.
“Aaaagh!!!”
The usual screams sounded different today, laced with desperation tied to survival.
The reason was that Lizards had been released in the clearing.
“Insane, seriously!”
“Spread out! The venom’s deadly if it hits!”
An unexpected monster attack.
Jaina, acting as leader, stayed relatively calm and faced them.
‘Good. Lizards aren’t too smart, so flanking them should work.’
I suppressed my urge to jump in, ntally assessing the cadets.
‘No! Dodge the tail, you idiot Elliott! Against a re Lizard!’
Frustrated but watching until the end, I observed the cadets.
The instructors stayed put, cheering as the cadets fought the monsters directly.
―Slash!
Finally, Jaina sliced a Lizard’s neck, and all cadets collapsed.
“Haa~”
“Ah.”
They’d defeated the monster unscathed.
Seeing this, Instructor Nell gave brief praise.
“Well done.”
Then he continued the training.
“Next, you’ll face one Kobold. After that, we’ll increase the number.”
The monster-based training was just beginning.
“Ugh!”
The cadets cried out in despair.
They’d barely handled one, and now it wasn’t over, with more to co?
What a thunderbolt of a revelation.
From now on, they’d have to risk their lives daily, truly fitting the Executor course.
Unlike the cadets, who felt this deeply, I itched to join in.
‘Man, I want to jump in. I’m confident I’d fight monsters well.’
Having fought countless battles, I still craved hunting monsters.
But as an instructor, I had no chance to join, and for ten grueling days, I could only watch as each cadet took down a Lizard.
‘If hunting monsters was training, I should’ve said I’d train too.’
Around then, sothing erupted.
Sothing massive enough to shake the kingdom.
***
The ruined fortress in the island’s central area.
It was once a castle called Leborn.
But due to certain events, the castle was erased, leaving only its foundation and surrounding walls.
Now, even its existence had vanished from history, and those in the present era called it rely the abandoned fortress.
The Viper gang’s corpses, killed weeks ago, had turned to bones, adding to the eerie atmosphere.
One corpse remained above ground, but the other, Lina’s, had been pushed into the pit by .
And that one hadn’t decayed.
Deep underground, beyond the reach of moonlight, a massive iron stake was embedded.
Lina’s corpse lay draped over it.
Though long dead, it hadn’t rotted for so reason.
Her skin had turned white as jade, as if all her blood had been drained.
And that was the truth.
The blood from Lina’s body had been slowly absorbed into the ground along the stake.
The ground, as if sentient, drew a pattern with her blood, resembling a magic circle.
A mage’s mana-infused blood.
Over a week, it traced lines like a snail’s trail.
The intricate magic circle was finally complete.
―Clatter!
Blood-red chains wrapped around the stake appeared.
―Crack!
The magic circle glowed, and the chains began to break one by one.
When all the chains fell from the stake, the circle’s light intensified.
―Rumble.
The ground shook as the stake shot skyward.
―Boom!
As the stake soared, all of the Hydra’s heads bristled, warily eyeing the fortress.
“Saaak!”
All heads simultaneously showed hostility.
From the pit the Hydra watched, a small coffin rose.
The coffin, with a hollow center, floated beyond the fortress and outside the barrier.
―Creak.
The coffin slowly opened, revealing the being inside.
Long white hair.
Skin paler than the hair, so pale it could be called ghostly, belonging to a refined young man.
A young man with a pierced heart slowly opened his eyes.
As he did, blood-red pupils with inverted irises fixed on the Hydra.
“Finally awake…”
As the being spoke, one of the Hydra’s heads crushed the coffin and the youth.
―Crunch!
As it chewed, countless blood spikes shot out from the Hydra’s mouth.
―Stab! Stab!
The indiscriminate spikes caused the Hydra excruciating pain.
It tried to spit out the youth, but a head was severed, and the blood-soaked youth erged.
He held a scythe made of blood in one hand.
“Quite a rough welco.”
“Saaak!”
The remaining Hydra heads sprayed venom at him in unison.
―Sizzle.
The acid would lt bones in seconds for an ordinary person.
But he, unfazed, conjured a red barrier.
With a disgusted expression, he shook off the venom.
“You filthy snake… How dare a creature like you challenge ? Not just your size, but your ego has grown too.”
The scythe he held morphed into a sword.
“Starting with you, I’ll take revenge on the kingdom’s inferior species who sealed . Only then will centuries of resentnt be quelled.”
His na was Gaiard Lecan.
Sealed for eternity by Great Mage Ernst centuries ago, killed by the kingdom’s subjugation force.
A non-human species from ancient tis,
known in the present era as a vampire or bloodsucker.
The Red Count had awakened after centuries.
Reviews
All reviews (0)