Chapter 16
―The Third Trial will now begin!
At those words, the trainees' eyes changed.
They had guessed that the time spent learning martial arts in the Martial Hall would not continue indefinitely.
But to suddenly start the Third Gate with no warning at all, the moment training ended?
"The Third Trial? Wasn't it the Second Gate?"
Furthermore, most of the trainees were in a situation where they knew nothing at all about the Second Gate that Bu Eun-seol had experienced.
But the expressions of the sharp-witted trainees were calm.
They had already guessed that there were other gates from the moment Bu Eun-seol boarded the ship to Hell Island.
"Soon, the caves will be sealed off."
At that moment, Baek Jeon-cheon, who had been standing beside Hyeokryeon Eung, stepped forward and spoke.
"From now on, please gather all the weapons you have kept in your quarters, or any items you deem necessary."
When the trainees uniformly wore puzzled expressions, he spoke again.
"From this point on, you will never be able to return to these quarters until the Ten Demonic Heirs are selected."
"I don't understand what you mean!"
One boy among the trainees listening to Baek Jeon-cheon's words shouted in a loud voice.
"How exactly do you intend to select the Ten Demonic Heirs?"
"It is not we who select them. You must select them yourselves."
The boy's expression became bewildered.
"Surely you don't mean we should discuss among ourselves and decide on the Ten Demonic Heir candidates?"
As the leisurely exchange of questions and answers repeated, Hyeokryeon Eung, who was beside them, frowned.
"Let me speak."
Baek Jeon-cheon was a personage of outstanding intellect, but his speech pattern was not direct, and he had a habit of speaking in vague, roundabout terms.
"Kill each other."
Hyeokryeon Eung's voice rang out across the entire island like a temple bell.
"Until the Ten Demonic Heirs are selected. Until I, the Chief Instructor, tell you to stop. Kill each other, I say. Do you understand?"
At that moment, the expressions of the trainees lined up before Stone Mountain split into two groups.
Those who had expected as much, and those who turned pale and stared at the trainees beside them.
"I have a question."
At that moment, a girl carrying two iron swords on her back shouted.
"What happens if we don't fight?"
"You won't fight?"
"For example, what if someone hides in secret, or if there are those who circle around the island and evade others?"
At the girl's sharp question, Hyeokryeon Eung bared his fangs and grinned.
"Of course, whether you hide or don't fight, it is all freedom. But you will never be able to do so."
The gaze Hyeokryeon Eung fixed on the girl seemed to burn with hot flames.
"Because as time passes, the area where you can remain will be restricted."
Rip.
At that moment, Baek Jeon-cheon ordered his subordinates to unfurl a large parchment.
That parchment was a map containing detailed locations of the terrain features of Hell Island.
"If it is deemed that you are not fighting, or that the fighting is dragging on sluggishly, we will gradually restrict the area where you may remain."
All the trainees' mouths fell open.
If the fighting drags on, they restrict the area?
This method was the worst possible method, driving the trainees into an extreme situation where they had no choice but to kill each other.
"What happens if we continue to remain in the restricted area, or hide in secret?"
At one trainee's question, Hyeokryeon Eung extended his finger.
Whoosh.
Then fierce Fierce Yang Force poured out, and a portion of the map drawn on the parchment was scorched black.
"Those who remain in the restricted areas will all be killed by the Killing Ghosts."
Slither.
No sooner had the words ended than shadows appeared like ghosts behind the platform.
The shadows reflected in the sunlight wore masks and Killing Outfits engraved with grotesque patterns like reptile skin.
Countless trainees were looking up at the platform, but no one had seen when they had climbed onto it.
At that moment, from among the gathered trainees, a large boy about a head taller than the others stepped forward.
"Can those Killing Ghosts not be attacked?"
In an instant, a murderous silence flowed through the clearing before Stone Mountain.
"Wahahaha!"
Hyeokryeon Eung suddenly burst into laughter, then nodded with a satisfied expression.
"A Ten Demonic Heir candidate should be at least this much!"
After laughing heartily for a long while, he wore a bloodthirsty smile that rose from the very bottom of hell.
"Of course you can attack them. If you have the ability, you may kill them."
"Kill them... you say."
"That's right. If you can kill a Killing Ghost, you will immediately become a Ten Demonic Heir."
From Hyeokryeon Eung's confident declaration, the trainees could feel it.
That the martial arts level of the Killing Ghosts would be beyond imagination.
That rather than dealing with a single Killing Ghost, it would be easier to slaughter every trainee here.
"You may move in groups, or launch surprise attacks. There are no restrictions whatsoever."
A reddish killing intent rose from Hyeokryeon Eung's eyes like fog.
"If you can kill them, do not choose your means or methods. For that will be the path to becoming a Ten Demonic Heir even a little sooner."
Hyeokryeon Eung, who had been examining the expressions of the silent trainees one by one, nodded.
"It seems you have understood properly."
And with eyes as solemn and quiet as those of a death god, he shouted.
"From this moment, the Third Trial begins!"
Around the time Hyeokryeon Eung and Baek Jeon-cheon ascended the platform and began explaining the Third Trial,
Bu Eun-seol began carefully studying the faces and features of the trainees gathered at Stone Mountain.
'Now is the last opportunity to obtain information.'
The number of trainees gathered in the clearing before Stone Mountain was roughly ninety.
Once the Third Trial began—requiring battle while moving around the vast island—there was no telling what might happen.
Among the trainees, some might craft masks to wear, and others might imitate not trainees but Killing Ghosts.
—In murim, those who obtain more information survive longer than those whose martial arts are strong.
It was a saying Bu Jan-yang, who spent every day determining the causes of death of corpses and carefully preparing the dead, had always told Bu Eun-seol.
—For most of the murim warriors who are murdered never even get to use their martial arts, and are killed without knowing why they died.
If one had examined their surroundings a little more carefully, they might have avoided the trap of death.
If one had observed the people around them a little more closely, they might have blocked a sudden ambush.
Bu Eun-seol, who had learned such truths to the bone while wiping down corpses.
Before the Third Trial began, he intended to obtain as much information as possible and gain the advantage in unexpected situations.
'Those who have formed groups are not few.'
While carefully observing the trainees around him, Bu Eun-seol was able to obtain three pieces of information.
First, there were many who had formed groups.
Among the trainees, there were quite a number exchanging glances with meaningful expressions.
'It is certainly different from back then.'
Second, those remaining on Hell Island now were prodigies outstanding in martial arts and intellect.
In the Second Gate, most had panicked and failed to adapt, but the trainees remaining here all wore calm expressions.
There were even those who, like Bu Eun-seol, stood in the corners and silently observed their surroundings.
It was clear they too understood the importance of information.
'Moreover, there are not a few who have learned various martial arts.'
Third.
Among some of the trainees, there were those who wore not only iron swords but also unique blades or weapons like whips.
Judging by how openly they wore them, it seemed they had likely been issued them when learning martial arts in the martial hall.
'No. There are also those who secretly smuggled them in.'
When they had arrived on Hell Island, they had surrendered all weapons and clothes they had brought and received an iron sword and martial uniform.
Nevertheless, traces of hidden weapons or other devices could be seen on the bodies of some trainees.
'Even if they deceive the instructors, they cannot deceive my eyes.'
Bu Eun-seol, who had prepared the bodies of countless murim warriors beyond counting.
Among the murim warriors who had died away from home, the majority were those who had equipped special hidden weapon devices on their bodies.
While wearing clothes, they were nearly unnoticeable, but once the clothes were removed, many devices were found in concealed places on the body.
'Objects like those will act as variables in unexpected situations.'
Just as Bu Eun-seol, deep in thought, was narrowing his eyes,
"Then from this moment, after fifteen minutes, the Third Trial will begin!"
Hyeokryeon Eung's thunderous shout, as if it would burst eardrums, echoed across the entire island.
Thud.
Bu Eun-seol kicked off the ground forcefully.
And he began a full sprint toward the lush forest visible before his eyes.
'I must leave this place immediately.'
He had attracted the attention of many trainees from the moment he entered the Intermediate Hall of the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
If he lingered near Stone Mountain without avoiding the spot, he could suffer a combined attack from trainees with outstanding martial arts.
Tap-tap-tap.
At that moment, along with signs of presence, there were shadows quickly closing in behind him.
'They are targeting me.'
Bu Eun-seol sensed that several people were pursuing him.
Hwiik!
Suddenly, the sound of breaking air poured out from behind.
THUD-THUD-THUD.
The sounds of hidden weapons embedding themselves echoed around Bu Eun-seol as he darted this way and that through the complex forest path.
But he did not even turn his head.
The moment he turned his gaze, his running would slow, and if he confirmed their faces, they might not give up the pursuit.
'I just need to endure a little longer.'
The slaughter had surely already begun; they would soon forget about someone like him.
Interest in what cannot be seen does not last very long.
Whirrrrr. Thwack.
Even while sprinting at full speed, Bu Eun-seol's expression was no different from walking on flat ground.
Thanks to the training he had received on Hell Island for two months, he had gained stamina like steel.
'That place will do.'
There were no restrictions yet on the areas where one could remain.
If so, he had to choose the safest space on Hell Island.
Hwiik. Thwack.
As he ran with all his might toward the northern end, a small thatched cottage appeared far in the distance.
That place was none other than the martial hall of Langya Pavilion, the thatched cottage where Sa-u had stayed.