The Second Gate Ends in Blood and Shock
“Look at this. Look at this. It happened again, just like back then. Damn… I’m completely disappointed.”
“Khuh… ugh…”
Hyeondo stared at the saber that had pierced straight through his left abdomen and groaned in pain. The man who had wounded him trembled, then slowly reached for the blade. Arent, however, yanked it out without mercy. Immediately, a torrent of blood exploded from Hyeondo’s back. “I must have given you a lesson before, didn’t I? Focus on your opponent when fighting. That’s why you were crawling on the ground then and now. I said it—simple sparring for superiority is different from a life-or-death battle…”
FWOOOSH—! BOOM!
Hyeondo fired his Blue Flame in that brief opening, but Arent had already anticipated the range. “You certainly talk too much when you should be fighting. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a familiar face, so I got carried away.” Arent scattered the flames and gripped the saber in reverse, walking slowly toward Hyeondo. “Then let’s wrap this up before the Danjus come to interfere.”
SWISH!
Arent’s blood-soaked saber shot straight at Hyeondo’s neck at blinding speed. * * *
“Hah… ouch! Hey! Let’s go together already! If I keep dragging you’ll get beaten up—!”
Teraden’s shout echoed from behind, but there was no time to wait. It was dangerous. If Hyeondo had opened his Ineung like that, they had either encountered a formidable foe or something at least as threatening. They had to reach the pillar of fire as fast as possible and see with their own eyes what had happened. “Hah…”
They arrived at the spot where the flames had erupted, but the scene was strangely quiet. Had Maru and Hyeondo safely defeated the enemies and made it to the summit? Or was it the unthinkable reverse—had the enemies taken them? The mid-mountain slope was silent, no footsteps, no signs of Maru or Hyeondo. Instead, about ten unconscious figures huddled together, the only evidence of fierce fighting a scorched earth. Deeper in, they found the unexpected presence waiting. The 6th Danju, Ren Eper. The masked pair and a silver-haired boy. By the time the first gate closed, these were the ones I had personally kept an eye on. The silver-haired boy was checking on Hyeondo, who could barely stand, as if he had been injured. But strangely, Maru was nowhere to be seen. “Ah…” “U-um…”
As soon as I arrived, the masked woman and the silver-haired boy gave hesitant sighs. They seemed to be sizing me up. “Please wait just a moment…”
TERROR!
They tried to block my approach, but I pushed past their shoulders without a word and squeezed between them. I found Maru with the masked woman. However, Maru… lay motionless on the frozen ground, unconscious. “What in the world happened?” I asked, fixing my gaze on her. “About twenty of them were waiting for us. I… got careless in the fight…” “You were with them yet this happened?” “Kuh! I-I have no face left to show…” Hyeondo tried to rise despite the effort. The silver-haired boy stopped him. “Don’t move! The wound you just cauterized will reopen!” “This kind of wound? No big deal. Really… sorry. Even ten mouths couldn’t find words for you…”
Stepping—stepping—
I walked past Hyeondo, who couldn’t lift his head, toward Maru. The ground beneath her was soaked in blood, and fresh stains spread across the earth. “…” My whole body felt ice-cold. “Hey! Hah! What the hell happened…” Teraden, panting, froze when he saw Maru’s condition. “Wh-what…” Then he screamed, losing his mind. “Fuck! What the hell are you doing?! Why is Maru bleeding from her mouth?!” “Brother Haru. Teraden. What’s going on…” “H-Haruni…” Blanser and Junior arrived one after another. Feeling the strange atmosphere, they stopped and didn’t come closer. Only Junior, who had spotted the situation from afar, rushed over and pulled something from his pocket. He sprinkled an unknown powder on Maru and, with the masked woman, seemed to be performing some high-class ritual, but I couldn’t tell what. My mind was foggy, as if dreaming. No information reached my brain. Maru… my sister was bleeding. Something inside me was collapsing, something words couldn’t describe. My entire body refused to accept the reality in front of me. “Haru-ssi.” Junior, who had finished with her, approached and sat beside me. “Haru-ssi?” “…” “Haru-ssi. When things are like this, you must stay calm. I’ve done everything possible. The worst was avoided, but blood loss is severe. We need a high-level priest as quickly as possible…” “You bastards… You did this?” Teraden staggered to his feet, his head twisting unnaturally. “These people fought desperately to prevent the worst outcome.” Eper stopped him. “Sorry… I should have helped her first instead of eliminating them…” The masked woman, head bowed, muttered meaningless words in a choked voice. “Hey. You know who did this, don’t you?” Teraden’s cold eyes turned from her to Hyeondo. “…” “Answer me.” “…” “Say it.” “Name is Arent. Once a senior at the National Academy. Three years ago, you defeated me at the Welcome Night.” “Ineung. Features. Tell me everything.” “Uses two sabers as weapons. No Ineung.” “You probably have him on standby. I’ll go up and kill him.” “Brother, I’ll go with you too.” “Teraden, stop. Don’t.” “What? Don’t go? Hey, even now you’re…”
WHOOSH!
Teraden spun around with a shout, then froze the moment he saw my face and trembled. Everyone else present—except the unconscious Maru—reacted the same way. I didn’t know if it was because I was angry or because I myself didn’t recognize the expression on my own face. “Maru… Maru comes first.” “Y-yeah. Maru first.” “Haru-ssi, you must hurry.” Junior urged again. Just as I was about to lift Maru’s body, I heard Maru’s voice clearly in my head: “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.” At the same moment, another familiar scene replayed in my mind. SAWAWAAAAA. A warm aura began to flow from Maru’s body. It spread from me, the closest, to Junior, Teraden, Blanser, and the others, quickly enveloping the entire mountain. While the exam raged, screams and chaos turned the desolate mountain into a place glowing with golden light. It was a scene I had experienced before. “This… this is the Saint’s Activation…?” The masked women and Eper looked at me in disbelief as the warm aura from Maru’s body sank into my skin. “Her wounds… are healing? Maru, you…” The wounds Maru had caused with her aura were shrinking visibly, disappearing one by one. A while later, Maru, with all her wounds closed, blinked and returned to normal. Her clothes, torn in places and stained with blood, looked perfectly fine. “?” Everyone stared wide-eyed. Maru tilted her head. “Huh! You’re okay…” “Step back—!!” BOOM! “Kyuek!” Teraden shoved Blanser aside and rushed to inspect Maru, then gently pinched her cheeks with both palms. “A-uwai?” His pronunciation was garbled because his cheeks were squeezed. “Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” Maru answered energetically despite the slurred words. “A!” * * *
“We congratulate you on passing the Second Gate of the Danju Selection.”
The sun had risen high over the horizon, resting on the mountain peak. The Second Gate was officially over. The guides waiting at the summit politely escorted the participants to the destination. “After eating and resting, gather at the building where the First Gate was held. The path down is this way. It will take about an hour to reach the destination.” Going back the way we came irritated me, but the participants, thrilled to have passed, descended the mountain without complaint. “Including the three teams that barely made it through at the end, forty-three teams and two hundred and nine participants passed this gate.” The participants had left, and the six Danjus who had finished their paperwork soon gathered on the summit. “Twenty-two teams dropped out midway or didn’t arrive on time. Of the nearly thirty teams that allied to eliminate Maru’s lineage, nineteen fell into a combat-ineffective state. Forty teams failed.” Cheongseol, gathering various information, reported the final results to the remaining Danjus. “Hmm, nearly half the teams dropped out? Much different from ours.” “If it dropped this much, we don’t even need the Sixth Gate, do we?” Mari stretched and rose from her fluffy cushion. “If the Third Gate also produces such a large number of dropouts, we might have to consider canceling the Fifth too. Then…” “We’ll decide later. As for special incidents in this gate…” “Right. Maru-ssi, a member of that lineage, opened the gate during the exam.” “That kid? Wait, so the aura just now came from her? I panicked because I thought the Saint had arrived. I thought she was going to die.” Hearing Cheongseol, Cheoyong, who had been shaking a branch, stopped. “Like Teraden’s supporter, she awakened her Ineung at fifteen. And the Ineung is exactly the Saint’s? The continent will shake once more. Well, soon enough it will spread anyway, but for now, keep strict discipline.” “…” “Yes!” “Understood.” “We’ll do that.” “Even my mouth is tight. If I open it, it’ll be a problem.” With that serious warning from Feygal, the six Danjus each nodded in agreement.